Under the microscope
CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS? YES. Before I was pregnant, I was training four to five times a week for an hour. Since having my son, Paul, at the end of December, I’ve been slowly getting back into fitness. For the past three weeks I’ve been working with a personal trainer three times a week.
GET YOUR FIVE A DAY? DEFINITELY. I always eat salad or vegetables with a main meal. I love strawberries and blackberries and I have a banana every morning. I am an omnivore: I love fish and chicken and tend to eat organic food when I can. I only eat red meat when I’m eating out.
EVER DIETED? OH YES. I tried to lose weight when I knew I was going into the Big Brother house in 2014. I just ate very little and it seemed to work. I normally weigh around 9 st and I’m 5 ft 6 in. I am not putting myself under any pressure to lose the baby weight, though.
WORST ILLNESS OR INJURY? BEING diagnosed with Crohn’s disease [an inflammatory bowel disease] in 2014. It was horrible. I had lost a lot of weight, was in pain and vomiting and had diarrhoea. After lots of tests, they eventually diagnosed Crohn’s. I was put on steroids, antibiotics and a shake diet while my gut healed. Doctors said I might need to have surgery to remove part of my intestine. It was all pretty scary.
POP ANY PILLS? FOR a while, I was on azathioprine [which suppresses the immune system to calm inflammation] for the Crohn’s, but I’m not taking any meds now and things have been fine. For the past year I’ve taken vitamin supplements and I feel incredibly well on them.
ANY VICES? I LOVE Chinese food, so treat myself to the occasional takeaway. I cut down on alcohol a lot when I got the Crohn’s diagnosis. I just have the occasional glass of red wine with dinner or a gin and tonic. EVER HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY? NO. I am young and quite confident in my own skin.
ANY FAMILY AILMENTS? MY PARENTS are very well and my grandparents are all still alive, so we are pretty lucky in that respect.
IS SEX IMPORTANT?
I AM not going to answer that one.
CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT? PROBABLY my water purifier, to take out impurities in tap water. I avoid having tap water ice cubes.
TRIED ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES? NO, BUT I do love a good sports massage if I get muscular aches and pains.
EVER BEEN DEPRESSED? NO. I AM really laid back and easy going. I got a bit down for a couple of months when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s. I just wanted to get better as soon as possible and get back to normal.
SLEEP WELL? I AM usually a good sleeper and used to get between eight and ten hours a night. But now I have a baby, that’s changed . . .
LIKE TO LIVE FOREVER? THAT is a hard one. Probably no. I want to grow old gracefully when that time comes.
GloW Self Tan and Pure, the fragrance, by Samantha Faiers, are available at The Fragrance Shop stores and online at thefragranceshop.co.uk.