'MasterChef' judge Gregg Wallace opens up about stomach condition that leaves him 'doubled up in pain'

Gregg Wallace has opened up about living with diverticulitis, the painful stomach condition he was diagnosed with last year.

While promoting the upcoming series of MasterChef: The Professionals, Wallace talked about how serious the illness – the illness – which causes balloon-like sacs to grow and become inflamed inside your digestive system – can get if you lose track of what you’re eating or drinking. And that can be a tricky thing to manage when you’re a celebrity food critic…

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“At that point they can burst your intestine,” he noted, after admitting that it was when his were particularly inflamed that he sought medical help and received his diagnosis. “I was almost doubled up in pain.

The most common cause of diverticulitis is thought to be lack of fibre in your diet.

According to The Mirror, he 54-year-old went on to detail how alcohol and spicy food can aggravate symptoms, such as bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, lower abdominal pain and fevers.

“We were eating chillis yesterday. Before that I had a massive skinful of beer in Dublin –and it was already playing up. I forgot, because I’d been so well. But yesterday I was ill.

“I’m turning into one of those old people who has things wrong with them.”

Back in 2013, Wallace embarked on an intense weight-loss plan after being told his cholesterol levels were alarmingly high. He lost three stone.

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Back in November 2018, Wallace and his wife Anna announced that they were expecting a “miracle” baby after two years of trying.

“We were due to start IVF but then it happened naturally,” he told OK! magazine at the time. “I’ve been scared and stressed since she fell pregnant but since we had the 12-week scan recently it feels joyous.

“Seeing a scan of our baby son and the strength of his heartbeat made me cry. We’re going to call him Sid Massimo Wallace.”

The child – which will be Wallace’s third – is set to arrive sometime this month.

MasterChef: The Professionals is set to air on BBC Two later this year.