Love Island star Shaughna Phillips has revealed the grim moment blood ‘poured down her legs’ during rehearsals for The Real Full Monty On Ice recently.
The reality star had previously undergone surgery on her calves after being diagnosed with lipoedema – which is an abnormal build-up of fat cells – and found herself in agony months later.
Shaughna previously said she was subjected to harsh trolling online, and opted to have liposuction on her calves, where two litres of fat were removed.
Now speaking about trying to get her boots on while she was preparing for the upcoming ITV charity show – which will see a group of celebrities take their kit off while dancing on ice to help raise awareness of testicular and breast cancer – Shaughna recalled the rink-side horror.
She told The Sun Online: ‘The first day of training I couldn’t get my foot into my boot.
‘There was blood pouring down my laces. I was in so much pain.’
Shaughna joined the event in honour of her late father, Eddie – who died in 2016 after an 18-month battle with cancer – and she refused to quit the show despite her pain following the September surgery.
She went on: ‘I was skating in my dad’s memory so there was no way I wasn’t going to do it. Plus I’m an Aries, it’s not in our blood to quit.’
Not knowing she had the medical condition, Shaughna had the procedure after a fan asked if she had been diagnosed with lipoedema.
She explained: ‘It was a huge relief getting diagnosed. I just thought I had a big problem area but to know it was a medical condition was a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.
‘Half the battle was won as soon as I was diagnosed. I thought I had really bad water retention.’
Sharing an update on how she’s going in the months following, despite the horrific moment during rehearsals, she said: ‘They are still quite swollen so I don’t look like Nicole Scherzinger yet but I am really happy with the result.’
