‘I have to protect myself and my body’
Gemma Collins, who is battling the effects of long Covid, chats about how she tries to avoid negativity
Gemma Collins has turned to sub-zero cryotherapy in a bid to “shock her system” back to health after long Covid symptoms made her convinced she was dying of a heart attack.
The 42-year-old reality star contracted the virus last year and has been suffering from the side effects ever since. Only last month, Gemma revealed she thought she was going to die.
“The palpitations got so bad I thought I was having a heart attack,” she says. “I called an ambulance and the paramedics did an ECG [electrocardiogram] and said, ‘We need to take you to hospital.’
“I said to myself, ‘Great, this is it. My time is up.’ But, thank God, it was a condition called costochondritis, which can cause severe chest pain and happens because of coughing or an infection. I think I got it from being constantly run down and ill. I think I’ve got long Covid because I haven’t been able to shift it and it’s been in my system for months.”
In a bid to feel better, Gemma has been having ice cryo spa sessions. “I’ve been going for loads of sessions at Ice Health Cryotherapy in Kensington and I use this thermal shock machine, which you get into standing up and your head pops out of the top,” she says. “It goes from +70ºC to -196ºC in seconds. Cryotherapy really boosts your immune system.”
‘I’m particular about who I have around me’
Advice from nutritionist Gillian McKeith has been instrumental in Gemma’s recovery. The pair have been friends since meeting in the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2016, when Gemma was a housemate and Gillian was involved in a task. “She’s been a life-saver,” says Gemma. “I met her last week and she said to me, “You’ve got to take zinc and vitamin C every day. She’s got all the tips.”
Gemma was recently in South Wales to explore her roots as part of the show More Than Daffs And Taffs, but was forced to complete filming back at her converted barn in Epping Forest because of her ongoing chest infection. Although she found fame starring in TOWIE, she reveals she’s never happier than being out in the country, away from “toxic people and toxic environments”. She explains,“One of my hairdressers didn’t have five minutes to look around my home after I’d had it all redone. It’s a shame but it’s more of a shame for him, not me. Where I live now is very different to TOWIE. “Now, I don’t really see many people and I’m particular about who I have around me. I protect my energy, honey. Humans are not always nice and there are very strange people in the world. And I don’t want to be around them and have any negativity. I have to protect myself and my body as much as I can.”
However, Gemma says the Welsh people couldn’t have been friendlier and she would even consider relocating to Wales. “I was welcomed with open arms,”she says. “I actually have Welsh blood in me. I really felt close to my late nan, Mildred, when I was there, so I felt a bit emotional. At the moment though, I’ve got my eye on moving to Surrey. Sam Faiers lives there. I do feel like I’ve totally outgrown Essex.”
More Than Daffs And Taffs is available on S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and YouTube