‘My abuse of junk food was completely out of control'

Chanelle Hayes chats to about weight-loss surgery and stepping away from the celebrity lifestyle

- ANNA MATHESON

Pictured soaking up the sun in Mallorca last week, Chanelle Hayes positively glowed with confidence. Now the former Big Brother star tells new she’s feeling better than ever after losing almost 8½st following weight-loss surgery.

“I can wear whatever I want now and I can make a lot more adventurous choices than before,” she says. “I feel fitter, healthier, and far more confident.”

In 2020, feeling miserable about her weight, Chanelle – who is mum to Blakely, 11, and Frankie, four, from previous relationships – made the drastic decision to undergo keyhole gastric sleeve surgery. Then a size 18 and weighing 17½st, she felt there was no other option but to go under the knife.

“I tried every single diet there is but I was completely out of control,” the 34-year-old explains to new. “If I was abusing alcohol or drugs the way I abused junk food, somebody would have intervened and done something about it. I felt as though there needed to be more of medical intervention, so I went away and spent a year researching it.”

Following the operation, Chanelle says she was “immediately on a reduced intake” and a liquid diet for four weeks. And after losing 8½st over the next six months, she tells us she now feels “amazing”.

“I’ve got more energy to do things with the kids – I can actually fit inside play gyms with Frankie,” Chanelle explains. “I couldn’t get my butt down the slide before! Plus I’ve got so much more confidence now. Before I preferred to shy away and stay in the house.”