Josie Gibson finally spills all on the TRUTH behind her 2.5st weight loss & what happened with ‘world’s hottest farrier’

JOSIE Gibson has a confession. “I’m so hungover,” she announces in typical no-filter style, as she arrives at our cover shoot. “All I did to prepare for this shoot was drink lots of tequila!” She has spent the previous evening watching Fatboy Slim at Forest Live – the first time she has let her hair down in ages. She plays a clip on her phone of her dancing in a field, and erupts into a huge, instantly recognisable laugh. Josie Gibson opens up to Fabulous Magazine about fat jabs, cosmetic surgery and why there’s only one man in her life Credit: Mark Hayman “I thought I was a really good dancer until I watched this,” she giggles. The evidence of the night before is written on her body. As she sits down to chat, Josie, 41, raises her arms to reveal scars running from her armpits to her elbows – the result of an arm-lift operation in March. “Because I’ve been drinking, they’ve come up really red,” she says. The first time we interviewed Josie was back in 2012, when she was 27 and had just dropped from a dress size 22 to an 8 – the result of a punishing diet and fitness plan. Yet even at her smallest, Josie could not change the shape of her legs. In 2024, after regaining some weight, she discovered why when she was diagnosed with lipoedema – a condition predominantly affecting women that causes disproportionate fat build-up. “It was a light-bulb moment,” she says. “I was told: ‘You can’t out-train lipoedema.’ It was heartbreaking, but it all made sense.” Deciding that surgery was her only option, last September Josie spent £7,000 on liposuction on her calves – the first of a “a few” treatments because her “legs are nowhere near completed”. Then in March, the arm lift removed 6lb of skin and fat from her upper body. Surgery is something Josie has always been refreshingly open about. In 2013 she had breast implants, which she later had removed, followed by a tummy tuck three years after. Her latest treatment, she insists, is “the best thing” she has ever done. “If you’d seen what my arms were like before, it was hideous, absolutely hideous,” says Josie. “Before the procedures, I hated the way I looked. I hated looking in the mirror. You’d catch a glimpse of your arm, and you’re like: ‘Oh god’. I couldn’t watch myself on telly. I was always covering up. Now I’ve ­got the confidence to wear a vest top. I have scars, but I’ll get laser treatment eventually.” Since surgery, and thanks to healthier eating and intermittent fasting, Josie says she has shed 2.5st, which many have speculated is down to weight-loss drugs. “The amount of people that have gone: ‘Fat jabs, fat jabs, fat jabs!’ I’m like: ‘How about single mum running around the country, trying to hold down a career and sort a house build, while trying to do everything else as well, including the cleaning – how about that? Josie is still hitting new career heights as she goes from strength to strength Credit: Mark Hayman This Morning gave me a life that’s better than winning the lottery, says Josie Credit: Shutterstock “If somebody gave me a miracle thing and said: ‘Here you go, you’re going to be skinny,’ and there were no side effects, that would be amazing. But people are losing their frickin’ hair, and what happens to your digestive system?” Now 13st 5lb and a size 14, Josie says she still has work to do on body confidence. “I really need to tone up. I need to get back to fitness for my mental health more than anything. I’ve been so bad. I’m doing absolutely nothing. Life is just so busy.” Now, there’s an understatement. Sixteen years after winning Big Brother in 2010, when she landed 77.5% of the public vote – the highest of any series – Josie is now one of ITV’s most recognisable and best-loved daytime presenters. Within two years of winning the reality show, work began to dry up and she was considering a job selling advertising space – but then she gave telly one final shot. “I thought: ‘No, I’m going to have another crack of the whip at this,’” she says. “So I reached out to 72 people. I was emailing and emailing.” One recipient was This Morning producer Vivek Sharma, who gave Josie a chance. The show’s former editor Martin Frizell also saw something in her, and the rest is history. “This Morning gave me a life that’s better than winning the lottery,” she smiles. “The team are insanely amazing.” Josie is determined to raise her son Reggie to respect women with respect Credit: Instagram Josie won Big Brother in 2010, when she landed 77.5% of the public vote – the highest of any series Credit: Shutterstock Since then, she has appeared on shows including I’m A Celebrity and Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, fronted How To Clean Up For Cash and is now documenting her house renovation for seven-part ITVX series Josie Gibson’s Big Country Build. Last month, she hit new career heights, fronting Lorraine during its long-time host’s absence. “It was great, but I was so nervous to follow in Lorraine Kelly and Christine Lampard’s bloody shoes,” admits Josie. Viewers called her “a breath of fresh air” and urged ITV to give her more screen time. What would she do with a show of her own? “I’d do a Ricki Lake show – really interactive, with loads of stories with real people,” replies Josie. “I love doing celebrity interviews, but I love real people.” She’s interviewed plenty of superstars over the years, including Jennifer Aniston and J.Lo, and once attended Elton John’s famous Oscars party in Los Angeles where she was surrounded by A-listers, including Sharon Stone. Yet, something felt off. “I was so out of my comfort zone, like a fish out of water,” says Josie. “I had a better time when I got home with Irene, the lollipop lady.” This neatly summarises what Josie calls her “two lives” – one moment rubbing shoulders with mega-stars, the next back home in Bath with her seven-year-old son Reggie. Josie admits she has only truly felt at home in the showbiz world in the last few months. “In your 40s, you sort of know yourself, don’t you? You stop feeling like a fraud. I felt like a fraud for years. You get imposter syndrome and feel like you’re not good enough to be there. “Now, I think: ‘No, I’ve grafted, I’ve worked so hard, I’ve gone to the levels of tiredness that I didn’t even know existed.’” When Josie’s This Morning career started, Reggie was six months old and barely sleeping. Josie would get up at 2am to drive to jobs after just a couple of hours’ sleep herself. Earlier this year, Josie sparked rumours after being spotted getting on famously with equestrian TikToker Sam Wolfenden Credit: SplashNews.com Josie has been touted as a contestant for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing but she says it’s not on the cards Credit: Splash “I didn’t turn a gig down for four years. I thought: ‘I’ve got one chance at this.’ Everybody in the media has a shelf life, so I’ve always thought: ‘If it gets taken away tomorrow, I’m going to enjoy today.’” Reflecting on the pressure so many women are under, Josie adds: “No wonder women are angrier than ever – we’re doing it all. I know this is going to sound a bit sexist, but I know so many women in my position – you’re doing it all, you’re paying for childcare. It’s been really hard. “You start getting a bit resentful,” she continues. “I’ve got to try not to be. You feel like you’re spinning 300 plates at once. I’m hyper-independent, so I rarely ask anybody for anything.” When Reggie was a baby, Josie split up from his dad, property developer Terry Bond, and has largely raised him on her own. But she says, recently, after a period of absence, Terry is back in their lives. Now, the pair are “trying to work out” their connection as parents. “We’re trying to build our relationship back to best co-parent Reggie and create a stable life for our son,” says Josie, who is reluctant to elaborate more. She admits, though, that she cannot imagine dating anyone else right now. “I don’t want different men around my son, I’m really funny about things like that. I would never let Reg see me with a man. I’ve been asked to do dating shows and I’ve turned them down.” Josie’s protectiveness is not just about Reggie. Years in the public eye have made her cautious about who she lets in. “I wish I was a bit softer,” she says. “I used to be really soft-hearted, but people took the mick. They take your kindness for weakness. I used to give a lot more people access to my life, and now I don’t. I don’t let people in at all.” Earlier this year, Josie sparked rumours after being spotted getting on famously with equestrian TikToker Sam Wolfenden – dubbed the “world’s hottest farrier” – when they presented Cheltenham Festival coverage for This Morning. “Oh my god, he is so funny, he’s a beautiful man and definitely my type – but he’s not my man,” she says. Truthfully, the only male at the centre of her world is Reggie, and she’s clinging tightly to his younger years while she can. Her son still sleeps in her bed, which Josie refuses to apologise for. “I don’t care what anyone says. I love it,” she says. “We snuggle at night. I reckon I’ve got maybe six months before he decides he doesn’t want to sleep with me any more. People will find that weird, because he’s seven, but I don’t care. In other countries, they don’t frown upon it, but here they do. I won’t get that again. I’m only doing [motherhood] the once. I wish I’d had more!” WHAT WAS THE LAST... TV show you watched? Euphoria. Film you saw? The live-action version of Moana, cos I interviewed The Rock. Podcast you listened to? The Joe Rogan Experience. Text you sent? I can’t divulge that or I’ll never work again! Time you cried? I accidentally knocked down a retaining wall, which nearly caused my whole house to subside. Time you laughed? Every day! Show you watched? Moulin Rouge – it was insane. Thing Reggie said? That he’s getting married to his girlfriend. She says another child at this point is not an option. “I haven’t got the energy to go back to nappies,” she laughs. Reggie keeps her on her toes. If she refuses him a second dessert when eating out, there are sometimes consequences. “He goes: ‘If you don’t get it, I’m going to tell everybody you’re sat here.’ Then he goes: ‘Let’s have a quid’, and if I don’t give him a quid, he shouts: ‘Josie Gibson’s sat here!’” she says. “He thinks he’s funny. He’s a real character is Reg.” Josie is determined to raise her son to respect women. “I always say to him: ‘You treat a woman like a queen and she’ll treat you like a king.’ He’s got a little girlfriend who he’s been with since he was four. She came round the other day, and he went: ‘Quick, Mum, get the hoover out! Tidy up!’ I went: ‘It’s your girlfriend, you get the hoover out!’ And he was hoovering the kitchen, putting all his toys away.” For now, home is a rental in Bath, while Josie pours every ounce of energy into transforming a dilapidated £1.1million Somerset house into an eco-friendly dream home, which should be ready by November. With horses, bees and an orchard, she wants to give Reggie a childhood in nature. “I’m trying to build a sanctuary. I want him to be a country boy and be one with nature. But I do worry that I’m giving Reggie too much, because I didn’t have it.” Josie has been touted as a contestant for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, but she says it’s not on the cards. “I love Strictly, and it would be good for toning the bod and a bit of weight loss, but no.” So, what does she want from the immediate future? “Just a really happy, smooth, no-drama, loving life,” says Josie. “I want to get the renovation done and I want to stop running. Lately, I’ve been running at a high-stressed pace, and I don’t want that any more. I need to concentrate on myself a bit more.” For someone who has spent 16 years racing towards opportunities, learning to slow down may be her biggest challenge to date. But given her track record, Josie Gibson can make anything happen. Watch Josie on This Morning during the summer, weekdays, 10am, ITV1.