Shaughna Phillips has revealed the emotional battles that led to her drastic weight gain as she candidly admits tipping the scales at 15 stone at her heaviest.
The Love Island star, 30, opened up about the difficulties she has faced since welcoming her daughter Lucia in April last year.
The blonde beauty, who has been showing off her dramatic weight loss on social media, recently told how she had overhauled her lifestyle after her doctor told her she was ‘seriously overweight’.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Shaughna explained that she struggled with comfort eating and used it to cope with stressful episodes in her life.
She said: ‘I’m a reactive eater and I see food as a comfort
“If there’s anything stressful in my life, that’s how I dealt with it: all things sweet and cookies.”
Shaughna Phillips, 30, has revealed the emotional battles that led to her drastic weight gain as she candidly admits tipping the scales at 15 stone at her heaviest (pictured last year)
The Love Island star has lost six stone (pictured) but has opened up about the difficulties she has faced since welcoming her daughter Lucia in April last year and how she started comfort eating
It’s been a tough time for the star – following the birth of her daughter, Shaughna’s boyfriend, Billy Webb, 29, (pictured) was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply 4.5kg worth of cocaine of at least £360,000
The star even confessed that she would sometimes go through an entire pack of cookies and often end up eating chocolate chip cookies instead of eating healthy.
She said, “It’s so easy to work through an entire pack of pastry cream.”
Before her lifestyle change, the influencer would regularly eat sweet treats and indulge in sugary drinks at lunch, but has now switched to a cleaner diet.
And Shaughna’s weight gain comes after a very difficult year for the reality star, which saw her become a single mother while juggling a difficult relationship and her career.
Following the birth of her daughter Lucia in April 2023, Shaughna’s boyfriend of four years, Billy Webb, 29, was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply 4.5kg of cocaine worth at least £360,000.
The blonde bombshell has been very open with her fans throughout the ordeal and previously revealed it on her podcast Oh, baby with Shaughna and Holly that she had difficulty coping with the situation.
She said: ‘It’s the most heartbreaking position you find yourself in.
“And I mean, before I even answer this question, I just want to let you know that you can judge me all you want, but please don’t let me know because I feel like unless you’ve been in this situation you can’t actually have no opinion about it.
And Shaughna revealed she struggled with comfort eating and used food to cope with stressful episodes in her life, including the birth of her daughter Lucia, 20 months.
The blonde beauty, who has been showing off her dramatic weight loss on social media, recently told how she had overhauled her lifestyle after her doctor told her she was ‘seriously overweight’.
“Because before I was in this position, before I had a baby, if you had asked me if I would ever put my child in jail, the answer would be absolutely not. Anyone who does that is crazy.
“And look, I’m in this position now. And I think the point is that we will always be co-parents.
“And I know that my father and I have had the best relationship ever, and to me my father is the best person in the world.
‘And I don’t want Lucia to think differently about her father. I would never stop him from seeing her, never.”
However, Shaughna revealed in November that her little girl’s father had been released after serving just 12 months of his sentence and the family were reunited to enjoy a Christmas grotto together.
Sharing an adorable video on her Instagram, the reality star revealed that she and her partner had taken Lucia to meet Santa, adding that she never thought this day would come.
She captioned the clip: “If you had told me this time last year that Billy and I would be taking Lucia to see Santa next Christmas, I probably wouldn’t have let myself believe you.
‘The best few days, this Christmas is going to be so special’.
The stress of parenthood was a factor leading to Shaughna’s weight gain, as she admitted she would just grab an on-the-go snack
The Love Island star has now dropped five dress sizes after starting a fitness and diet plan over a year ago, and is now a healthier nine stone 10lbs
The star also revealed to MailOnline that she was struggling to raise her daughter as a single mother.
She said: ‘Now that I have a newborn baby the hormones are all over the place and I was just struggling’
‘Anyone who has had children will probably say that as a newborn it’s easiest because they just lie there and need to be fed, but as they get older they can talk back and say no… It’s exhausting.’
And the stress of parenthood was a factor in Shaughna’s weight gain, as she admitted she would simply grab a snack on the go, despite her aim to feed her little girl the healthiest meals she could.
“I wasn’t eating well and I realized that if I wasn’t going to let Lucia eat it, why?” she admitted.
Shaughna revealed earlier this year that she was ‘shocked to her core’ after visiting her GP for a health check.
The TV star explained that a year after giving birth to her daughter Lucia, she was told she is now obese.
In a candid post shared to Instagram, Shaughna revealed that during a full body MOT check she was told she had ‘quite a lot of visceral fat around her major organs’.
According to Health Direct, this could lead to a range of potentially serious health problems in the future, such as heart attacks, diabetes and some cancers.
Shaughna revealed earlier this year that she was ‘shocked to her core’ after visiting her GP for a health check
The TV star revealed she was diagnosed with obesity a year after her daughter Lucia was born
Speaking to her 1.4 million followers, she said: ‘It’s been a year since I had a baby so I wanted to see where I was after the birth.
‘They told me I was obese, which isn’t a shock, but it’s never nice to hear. After a few checks they said I had quite a lot of visceral fat around my organs.
“Now, I’m no Gillian McKeith, I’m not going to tell you what that means because I don’t really know.
“It’s actually fat around your major organs, which is serious because it can cause heart attacks.”
‘I’m a mother now and it shocked me to my core because I know I’m not the picture of health but I didn’t realize things were so bad and it’s quite scary to hear it from a medical professional . ‘
Shaughna vowed to improve her health as she is determined to be there for her daughter as she grows up, saying: ‘I’m going to do this. I have to do something. I need to lose so much weight. I only had one parent because my father died.
“Without going too deep, I just don’t want this to happen to Lucia and I want to do everything I can to stay here as long as possible.”
Shaughna opened up about the body dysmorphia she has struggled with all her life, adding: “I’m not going to be too hard on myself because I’m only human. I’m raising a person on my own, which is difficult. I am self-employed, which is difficult.
Shaughna vowed to improve her health as she is determined to be there for her daughter as she grows up, saying: ‘I’m going to do this. I have to do something’
‘I’ve probably struggled with my body image for most of my life, which is quite scary – and I don’t want that for Lucia.
‘I have to be a positive example for her. I don’t want her to see that I have trouble putting on clothes or that I’m not happy with the way I look. I need to be the happiest and healthiest version of myself.
‘Do I know how to get there yet? No. But I feel like I now have the knowledge to move forward. I’m a work in progress, but I still love myself.’
And the Love Island star has dropped five dress sizes after starting a fitness and diet plan more than a year ago, and is now a healthier nine stone 10lbs.
But she said it’s about finding a balance and hasn’t completely given up sweet treats, indulging in the occasional chocolate bar and glass of Prosecco.
The blonde beauty told MailOnline that she is now less focused on losing weight and being ‘skinny’.
She explained that when she was younger, she was focused on how she looked and whether people “liked her,” but now she says that’s the furthest thing from her mind.
She said: ‘That was the big difference. I wasn’t trying to look skinny, I was trying to be healthy because I needed to address the visceral fat.
‘There’s no point in being skinny if you’re fat inside.
And Shaughna wants to share how her combination of diet and exercise has worked for her and is launching her Shred-It Plan, which includes short workouts and a meal plan to help people lose weight.
Her website launched on Boxing Day and plans start at £49.99.