Vanessa Feltz has revealed that having her gallbladder removed has "affected my whole personality," in a rare discussion of the medical procedure.
The television and radio presenter, 64, opened up about the surgery during an appearance on Katherine Ryan's podcast What's My Age Again?, noting she typically avoids the topic publicly.
"It's a very intimate part of my anatomy I no longer have," Ms Feltz explained.
"I don't normally discuss it in public but anyway, the lack of a gallbladder, it's affected my whole personality."
Vanessa Feltz opened up about the medical procedure
| GETTYThe broadcaster, who has previously undergone both gastric band and gastric bypass procedures, said she shed a significant amount of weight around 2008 through intensive dieting and exercise before requiring the gallbladder operation.
She suggested rapid weight loss may have contributed to the issue, referencing recent reports linking weight-loss injections to similar complications.
Ms Feltz also spoke candidly about her struggles with being single following her separation from former fiancé Ben Ofoedu.
The presenter described herself as "single but reluctantly," admitting she has found it difficult to come to terms with her situation.
Vanessa Feltz split from Ben in 2023 | GETTY
"I don't like it. I haven't managed to adjust to it," she said.
Ms Feltz painted a bleak picture of returning to an empty home each day, describing it as "an empty, dark, rather cold house" with nobody to share her experiences with.
"There's just no one. And it's so boring. It's so quiet. It's so tedious," she told Ms Ryan.
She reflected on how solitude allows one's thoughts to spiral, adding: "Your own thoughts roam and get bigger and bigger. And I already know my own thoughts."
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Vanessa Feltz and Ben Ofoedu split in 2023 | GETTY
The broadcaster admitted her fear of being alone had kept her trapped in unsuitable partnerships for far too long.
"And that's why I stayed so long in these doomed and hellish, sinister, ghastly relationships. Because I just couldn't face the spectre of being on my own," Ms Feltz confessed.
She expressed regret over these choices, acknowledging she would not encourage others to follow the same path.
"It was a mistake. I do regret it. I'm not proud of it, and I don't recommend it to anyone. And I wish I hadn't done it, but I did do it, and that was the reason why I did it," she said.
Vanessa Feltz issued a candid update about her health
| CHANNEL 5The TV personality concluded with resignation about her current circumstances.
"I just couldn't bear to come out the other end and just be alone," she shared, adding: "And now I have to just get on with, don't I?"
Ms Feltz also addressed the current climate for Jewish people in Britain, describing the experience as "much more" stressful than in previous years amid a rise in antisemitic incidents.
When asked whether this heightened stress could affect her biological age, she responded: "I haven't thought about that at all. And I would say I hope not, but I wouldn't be altogether surprised if it has some impact."
The Cambridge-educated presenter, who studied English Literature at Trinity College with a focus on Chaucer, emphasised her deep British roots, noting her family has lived in the country for six generations on her mother's side.
"I feel in every particular part of my anatomy, my blood, my cells, my soul, British through and through, because I am," she said, adding that the prospect of being judged or despised simply for being Jewish is "obviously absolutely unbearable."