‘I felt like I had glass inside my bladder'

Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson on her agonising health battle and how fiancé Casey has been her rock

- ANNA BAILEY

With a bouncing baby boy and recent engagement to Casey Johnson, Marnie Simpson should be walking on air. But when we call the Geordie Shore star for a chat, she tells us she’s been battling a crippling bout of her chronic bladder condition since giving birth to son Rox last October, resulting in months of agony.

“I was in the most horrendous pain with bladder spasms and burning,” she reveals.

The 28-year-old tells us she was initially wrongly diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (IC), a similarly little understood condition, but later discovered she was actually suffering with a chronic UTI – an infection embedded in the bladder wall which is resistant to antibiotics and very difficult to diagnose with current testing.

After a tough start to the year caring for a new baby while in terrible pain, Marnie tells us she can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel and is receiving expert care from a US specialist as well as helping to heal herself naturally.

“I was never really one for all that stuff, but I’ve found that diet modification and lots of herbal supplements has helped me more than medication,” she reveals.

Now finally getting on top of her symptoms she can start looking to the future with her family, including planning her wedding to former X Factor star Casey, 25, who proposed to her last month.

Here, Marnie tells new how she’s hoping to spread awareness of her condition, where she dreams of taking 10-month-old Rox on holiday and why she won’t be inviting the Geordie Shore cast to her wedding…

Hi Marnie! When were you first diagnosed with a chronic UTI?