Love Island star Gabby Allen has revealed that her scoliosis diagnosis could have left her immobile if left untreated. The 34-year-old TV personality, dancer, and fitness entrepreneur shared her story for Scoliosis Awareness Month, highlighting the severity of her condition and the life-changing surgery she underwent at age 12.
A Severe Diagnosis
Scoliosis is a condition where the spine curves sideways. In Gabby's case, her curve was so extreme that it formed a secondary curve in the opposite direction. She told the Mirror: "It was very severe and if I hadn't have had it done anything, I would have been essentially immobile. Some people can just live with minimal scoliosis but people like me have to have the operation otherwise we would have ended up really kind of disabled from it."
Gabby underwent a near full spinal fusion, which solidifies the spine into essentially one long bone. The surgery carried risks of paralysis or mobility issues. She recalled her main concern: "I was a dancer, so the main thing I was just thinking is 'oh my God, am I gonna be able to dance again?' Luckily my surgeon was able to allow my three bottom vertebrae with some flexibility."
Recovery and Resilience
Recovery was challenging. Gabby described the first time she was sat up: "I literally felt like a plank of wood. I felt like I was going to snap in half. Then learning how to walk (was) the worst thing ever and finding my balance again. But compared to how I would have been if I hadn't have had the operation, it's obviously all worth it."
Within a few months, she was back on the dance floor and even helped raise awareness at her dance studio, leading to diagnoses for other girls before their curves worsened.
Life After Surgery
Twelve years on, Gabby says the only activities she cannot do are horse-riding and trampolining. She still notices imbalances in her strength training: "With my strength work, I always have to work on imbalances. Deadlift a little bit heavier on the left side. My ribs and my hips are further apart so I have to literally lift my pelvis up on my left side."
She added: "When I take photos, you can see my ribs are so wonky, my abs are so wonky. My muscles around my lumbar spine are wonky. My right side is so much more prominent than my left. It's really annoying because I'm trying hard to balance it."
Embracing Her Scar
Gabby first showed her scar on Love Island in 2017 to inspire confidence in others. She admitted she was once self-conscious: "When I was younger, I was actually quite self-conscious of it and I didn't like to show it publicly. When I came into my younger adulthood and built confidence in other ways, I started to meet people that would ask me about my scar. Seeing that the response I was getting was just general interest rather than somebody being like 'uh what's that?', that gave me confidence to showcase my scar with pride."
Her back has never been an issue in romance. She shared: "When I started dating, I was confident in all the conversations that I'd have about my back with anybody, boy or girl. If anything, people are just interested and wanted to know more. Having confidence in yourself and knowing that it's your story, that's what makes you different. Your superpower, I suppose."
Gabby hopes her journey shows others that they can still be the best version of themselves despite scoliosis. She said: "My goal to show that you can still be best version of yourself, wonky back and all! Even with the scoliosis I did SAS, and the amount of messages that I have from people, people's parents mostly, saying 'Watching you do what you've done has given me so much confidence in my children and what they're going to be able to do.'"
