Josie Gibson has often spoken about her battle with her weight over the years, and previously revealed a cruel nickname she gave herself as a teenager.
Josie – who returns with a new episode of Around the World in First Class tonight (March 14) – now leads a healthy lifestyle. However, she has previously admitted to struggling with body image issues growing up.
In her 2014 book, The Josie Gibson Diet, the This Morning star opened up about her insecurities at a younger age.
Josie Gibson and her friend labelled themselves ‘The Big Girls’
The TV presenter talked about her body image issues as an overweight teenager in her book. She revealed she and her close friend, J, would admire conventionally good-looking couples and wished they could have lived their lives.
An excerpt from the book revealed: “We met when we were teenagers and used to work the summer seasons in Ayia Napa together.”
We’d go out on the lash calling ourselves ‘The Big Girls’, joking with blokes that there was too much of us for them to handle.
Revealing the nickname they had given themselves, she wrote: “We’d go out on the lash calling ourselves ‘The Big Girls’, joking with blokes that there was too much of us for them to handle.”
However, Josie and her friend secretly struggled with insecurities and low self-esteem.
In the book, she added: “But in secret, in those searingly honest moments you only have with your closest friends who you know will never judge you after a few bevvies, we’d talk about how we longed to be loved and how we’d love to be part of a couple like the ones we saw on our nights out.”
Furthermore, describing the couples she admired, Josie said: “You know the ones I mean: he’s tall and handsome, she’s petite and sexy, they walk down the street holding hands, or maybe he has his hand placed delicately in the small of her back. They both know they’re good-looking, he’s proud to have her on his arm and she’s proud to be there.”
‘I didn’t get a gastric bypass’
However, with consistency, a healthy lifestyle and watching what she eats, Josie is now fitter than ever. Over the years, she has undergone a drastic transformation.
TV favourite Josie, who was a size 18 when she shot to fame on Big Brother, dropped six stone back in 2013. “I first embarked on a weight-loss journey in 2013 when I shed six stone over a year with a combination of healthy eating and exercise,” she told Closer.
Then in 2016, Josie went under the knife to remove excess skin following her weight loss. “I’ve had 6lbs of skin cut away! But I’m probably several pounds heavier than I was because I’ve not done any exercise. I reckon I am a big size 12,” she said.
In January 2021, Josie revealed she had dropped another 10lbs on Weight Watchers. “I can’t tell you the difference it’s made to my energy,” she said.
The star previously addressed rumours she’d had bariatric surgery, revealing: “I didn’t get a gastric bypass; I got off my big [bleep], moved more, ate less and educated myself on what I was stuffing into my body.”
Around the World in First Class is on Fridays at 8pm on Channel 5.
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