SHAUGHNA Phillips has revealed she blocked the word 'legs' from her social media accounts before Love Island over fears she'd be trolled about her limbs.
The reality star had always felt insecure about her legs, and after the ITV dating show, she was diagnosed with lipoedema – an abnormal build up of fat in the legs and bum.
Last month she had liposuction to remove some of the excess fat, and in a new interview with BBC Newsbeat, she said: "Before I even went into Love Island you can block words that you don't want to see and the first word I blocked was 'legs'.
"I saw something the other day that said 'another girl takes the easy way out' and I replied to this person saying I was in no way lazy for getting my calves done."
Shaughna had put in hard work at the gym and shed four stone prior to the show but still wasn't happy with the size of her legs.
WHAT IS LIPOEDEMA?
According to the NHS, lipoedema is a long term chronic condition that usually only affects women.
In rare cases it can also affect men and is a condition where there is an abnormal build up of fat cells.
This could be in areas of the body such as the legs, thighs and buttocks and occasionally the arms.
She continued: "I think it was Lipoedema UK who put a before and after picture up. When I weighed 14 stone, I'd lost 4 stone and then posted a picture of before and after and I looked no different.
"So if that's lazy – losing four stone, going to the gym and eating healthy then you're the silly one. I definitely want to use my platform as much as I can to raise awareness and help women and girls."
The 25-year-old surprised fans when she revealed she'd had surgery by posting snaps from her hospital bed.
Shaughna said: "So just because I've seen so many questions on my InTheStyle Q&A about what surgery I've had, I just thought I'd let you all know because I'm not going to hide anything and I was going to tell you all anyway.
"I have had liposuction on my lower legs, so my calves, because I was recently diagnosed with lipoedema, once I'd come out of the [love Island] villa.
"I've kind of always had an insecurity about my legs, but there were so many questions about if I'd ever been diagnosed with lipoedema, and I didn't even know what it was."
She added: "So after some research and going to the doctors, I was finally diagnosed and then had my surgery on Wednesday.
"I'm recovering, I'm doing really well. I've got make-up on today, I've brushed my hair today and, yeah, I'm just really looking forward to kind of the process of it.
"It's not an overnight thing, I have to keep up with my compression garments and things like that, but so far so good."
The popular Essex girl, who appeared on the winter 2020 series of Love Island, shared a picture of herself lying in a hospital bed, saying: "Surgery swag. I'm so high BTW."
In another photo, both of her legs were seen in plaster casts, while her feet were left swollen and poked out of the bottom.
Source: Read Full Article
