Gemma Collins has begged her fans for help after opening up about her battle with the perimenopause.
The I’m A Celebrity: South Africa star opened up on social media about how she has been struggling with her memory, admitting she’s becoming increasingly forgetful as the condition takes hold.
Taking to Instagram last week, Gemma raged, “PERI MENOPAUSE SUCKS !!!!! I’ve lost two sets of car keys in one week and I do not know for the life of me where I put them…
“I can’t remember nothing it’s bizarre! And it’s like an out of body experience my mind is normally very sharp! Is there any help for this and can someone who’s got the witchy powers please help me find my keys!”
View 2 ImagesGemma Collins shared this pictures over the sunny Bank Holiday(Image: gemmacollins/Instagram )
She then pleaded with her followers to “send help”, adding that she was “having a moment”. Fans were quick to offer advice, with many suggesting HRT [Hormone Replacement Therapy] or hitting the gym as a means of coping.
Former Real Housewives Of Cheshire star, Tanya Bardsley, 45, revealed she’s also suffering, commenting, “I feel ya hunny.”
Perimenopause is the transitional phase before the menopause when the ovaries begin to produce less oestrogen. It usually begins when women are in their forties and symptoms include irregular periods, hot flushes and night sweats.
According to official NHS guidance, you may also – like 45-year-old Gemma – notice “problems with your memory or concentration”. Despite her bubbly persona, a source close to the former TOWIE star says she is struggling to cope.
“Gemma is quite emotional at the minute. She keeps herself very busy with work, but the perimenopause is something that is troubling her,” says our source. “She’s losing her keys, her memory, she’s up and down with her emotions… it seems to have hit her quite hard. Some people suffer badly with perimenopausal symptoms and she’s one of them.”
The star first opened up about her perimenopause ordeal last November, telling her followers she’d been feeling “a bit off lately” and urging other women to listen to their bodies.
Essex-based Gemma, who also suffers from Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS), said, “I’ve been getting the most weirdest symptoms – itchy ears, feeling a little bit more tired than usual.
“I was just like, I feel like there’s something not right with my hormones. I’m 44 now, and it’s no secret that perimenopause can creep up on you at any time, and I’ve just been a bit worried about it.”
Aside from forgetfulness, Gemma has previously spoken of other, more unusual side effects, admitting that even the sound of fiancé Rami Hawash eating or breathing was triggering her. “My partner knows when to stop chewing so I don’t kick off,” she said. “It irritates the hell out of me.”
She has also spoken about suffering from “low libido” and feeling “really tired”, but it’s her memory loss that’s been bothering her the most.
Highlighting just how forgetful she’s become, Gemma has joked that she’d got her partner and her dogs “wearing name tags” because she “can’t remember what they’re called” any more.
Earlier this year, Gemma returned to the I’m A Celebrity jungle, and while she lasted the course this time round, she says her perimenopause symptoms made the experience tougher.
“I was waking up just bursting into tears in the morning,” she said afterwards. “I’ve got nothing to be sad about, but it’s a very strange thing. You just start to notice it coming on. One of my first symptoms was itching in the inner ear. That is what alerted me to it.”
The star is now busy filming her own reality show, Four Weddings And A Baby, for Sky, which will chart her journey to marriage and, hopefully, motherhood. At the start of 2026, she laid out her hopes for the year, writing on Instagram, “Yes I’m getting married this year and YES I’m having a baby.”
As well as suffering three miscarriages in the past, Gemma has endured a long battle with infertility. But with the help of IVF, she finally hopes to realise her dream of becoming a mother this year.
She has vowed that “it will happen”, but admitted the show sees her going through a roller coaster of emotions in the process. “You see me broken,” Gemma said in April. “It’s not all plain sailing. It’s very raw. You see that despite the lights, the big house, the glamorous life, you can still be broken in so many ways.”
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According to our source, Gemma is coping with the perimenopause by “talking about it”, but there are days when she finds it hard to stay positive.
“She’s foggy-headed and there’s a build-up of emotions,” says our source. “There’s a lot on her shoulders at the minute, so Gemma’s looking forward to a bit of a break and taking a holiday this summer.
“She also wants to get stuck into wedding planning. She won’t let anything destroy this.”