EastEnders' Melissa Suffield says staggering weight loss not intentional but down to health issue

The former soaps actress has revealed the health diagnosis that has led to her significant weight loss, bringing her back to her pre-baby body

A former EastEnders star has opened up on her recent weight loss, as she revealed it hasn't come from a new diet regime or workout plan.

Melissa Suffield, who is best known for playing Lucy Beale as a surly teenager from 2004 until 2010, was previously a body positive champion embracing her fuller figure now she's a mother. Yet after suffering with "horrible nausea" last year, the former soap actress has seen her weight drop as she's now able to fit in her pre-pregnancy jeans.

Melissa was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) earlier this year, after more than 40 appointments with her GP and multiple tests to determine why she was left feeling sick and seeing her weight drop.

Speaking in an interview to The Sun, Melissa explained: "Obviously, I've lost quite a lot of weight this year, but absolutely none of that has been through choice. None of it. Like I'm back in my pre-pregnancy jeans."

The star, who gave birth to her son River in March 2020, has added that the weight loss and illness has left her with "no joy" and that she isn't delighted with her new figure, despite others envying it.

She also highlighted that being slim doesn't mean she's healthy, as she revealed having SIBO has also impacted her skin and hair. She explained: "What it [losing weight because of SIBO] has helped me do is prove the point that I've always, always made, which is that you cannot define how healthy someone is, by how much they weigh, or how fat you think they look or whatever it is that you think you know."

She also revealed that she feels like 'a burden on the NHS' due to being in and out of GP appointments, multiple tests and seeing various departments. She also added that she has spent an "obscene amount of money on prescriptions" as she battled to get her diagnosis and get a handle on the nausea.

Despite no longer being the curvier version of herself Melissa, who posts on Instagram as @the.confidentmama, is continuing her body positivity campaigning which sees her promote a healthy relationship with the body and self esteem. Her account regularly posts stylish and comfortable outfit inspirations as well as snippets from Melissa's life alongside her partner and four-year-old son River.

According to the Mayo Clinic, SIBO happens "when there is an abnormal increase in the overall bacterial population in the small intestine — particularly types of bacteria not commonly found in that part of the digestive tract."

Common symptoms of the illness include a loss of appetite, abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, an uncomfortable feeling of fullness after eating, diarrhoea, unintentional weight loss and malnutrition.

In the UK, the NHS estimates 13 million people in the UK suffer with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with as as many as 80% of these (up to 10.8M patients) also having small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).

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