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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Nia Dalton

Gemma Collins: 'I wet myself during Radio 1 Teen Awards fall - but I got my sexy back'

She's the queen of reality TV, famed for her no-nonsense attitude, diva personality and glamorous alter ego. But Gemma Collins is far more than meets the eye.

In recent years, the Essex star has given fans an insight into the real GC behind-closed-doors, from opening up about self-harm to her fears of not becoming a mum.

Now, she's breaking the taboo of talking about 'down there' - and this time, it's not her £2k 'designer' vagina. Like one in three women in the UK, Gemma experiences incontinence.

From her most embarrassing wet moments to feeling 'sexy' wearing pads, Gemma has spoken to the Mirror about her leaking bladder at 42.

Gemma Collins first noticed her bladder leaking at the age of 35 (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Quantus Gallery)
She felt embarrassed at the beginning but now fully owns it (PA)

Gemma was in her mid-thirties when she first started to notice her bladder leaking and didn't understand what was happening.

"I experienced incontinence around 35. It's more so since I've reached the big 40. I'm 42 now, and I find when I do activities it can leak," Gemma told the Mirror.

It was an intense cough that first caught her off guard in the middle of a meeting, then a laughing fit in the back garden properly made the floodgates open.

"I was bouncing on the trampoline with my nephew Hayden when I felt it. I said, 'H, something is happening to me!' He asked if I'd wet myself, and it felt like that," she said.

"I'm the sort of person that's never going to be a fun killer. It's just not my vibe. But that day was different. Normally, we'd go to the cinema or out for dinner, but I had to go home.

She will happily go on a Segway, do the splits and get up on stage (Always / SWNS)
Gemma still feels sexy whilst wearing incontinence pads every day (WireImage)

"Hayden knows I'm his mad aunty, but I felt a bit embarrassed and couldn't believe it had happened to me. I've not even had children yet."

Gemma's most embarrassing leak happened in public when she was on stage at the Radio 1 Teen Awards and famously tumbled off Wembley stadium.

"I think when I fell over at the Teen Awards, it was shock mixed with my bladder incontinence that made me wee. That was not good at all," she said.

"I just had no control over it, Honey, it all came out."

Now, Gemma - who is a paid ambassador with Always Discreet - wears a pad daily and said it hasn't dulled her sparkle.

"I absolutely feel sexy. It's so thin that I almost feel weird if I don't use one in my underwear now," she said.

Her most embarrassing leak was when she fell during the BBC Teen Awards in 2017 (Getty Images Europe)

"I love the fact it keeps your hygienic, smelling nice and dry. I don't change it until the evening when I shower. There's nothing the GC wouldn't do now.

"This weekend, I'm performing at the Mighty Hoopla and I'll be doing the splits on stage with confidence because I know I won't have any leaks."

Gemma isn't considering surgery for her incontinence and has instead focused on strengthening her pelvic floor at home.

"I never thought I had to do pelvic floor exercises because I haven't had children. But it's life-changing," she said.

"Every other day in the evening I do my exercises. It definitely helps to strengthen the muscle."

As well as controlling any accidents, Gemma is preparing herself for the possibility of a natural child birth one day.

"Now that I've been doing my pelvic floors, when it comes to pushing a child out, they will be shooting out of me," she said.

Since the TOWIE star first spoke out about her incontinence, her inbox has been flooded with messages of thanks from women experiencing the exact same.

She wants other women to live their best lives and talk openly about it (Gemma Collins/Instagram)

"I am absolutely amazed and shocked by the thousands and thousands of messages coming through on my social media," Gemma said.

"So many people have said, 'OMG, thank you for speaking about this', or 'I've been suffering with this for years'. It's been so overwhelming.

"My friends have told me, 'I get that if I laugh', or 'It happened when I was doing Pilates'. So many women who aren't mothers actually experience it too."

According to research by Always Discreet, women are doing the things they love a lot less since experiencing bladder leaks - which Gemma said is a "shame".

Over half avoid wearing swimwear on holiday and 37 percent have stopped doing their favourite activities. Another 10 percent are seeing their friends less.

"I'm not ashamed and it's so healthy to talk about these things," Gemma said. "We need to be living our best, confident lives every day and nothing is going to stop me doing that."

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