Tessa Sanderson Nadine Dorries, Hayley Tamaddon, Peter Andre, Shaun Wallace and Hugo Taylor take part in an extreme junk food eating experiment
Stars overindulge for three weeks in the name of science in ITV's The Junk Food Experiment
The salad days are over for six celebrities as they embark on a scientific overfeeding experiment in this one-off special.
Over 21 days, stars including actress Hayley Tamaddon (above third from left) and The Chase’s Shaun Wallace attempt a strict diet of burgers, pizza and fried chicken under the watchful eye of doctor Michael Mosley.
Although Peter Andre relishes the chance to indulge, and MP Nadine Dorries delights in bringing a burger to No. 10, most participants begin to suffer serious health issues, showing the very real impact of calorie-laden diets.
The take-away message is everything in moderation, but stuffed with enough juicy new facts to keep it fresh.
TV Times rating: ****
Here, Hayley, 42, tells TV Times why the trial has given her food for thought…
Why did you sign up for the show?
I’m quite partial to a bit of fast food, and used to eat quite a lot of it before I was diagnosed with severe irritable bowel syndrome [IBS].
I was diagnosed a few years ago, after I ended up in hospital numerous times in extreme pain.
Since then, my diet has completely changed and it’s worked wonders. When this came up I thought, maybe if I test myself like a guinea pig it might help someone else with IBS.
Weirdly, I was actually looking forward to seeing what would happen to my insides!
Was the ‘diet’ a big commitment?
Massive! I love fast food, but I wasn’t anticipating how much we’d have to eat.
In my first week I ate 2,500 calories of fried chicken a day. It was tougher than I thought it would be. I had very little energy and my tummy was in agony.
What did you learn?
It’s really made me think about certain things I eat. I also hope it will help people with IBS. If you suffer tummy issues after eating, go to the doctor and get checked – maybe you’re gluten intolerant or have IBS.
But you don’t need to be in pain.
