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Jennifer Ellison hit 14st after her sugar addiction saw her drinking EIGHT cans of Coke a day - and left her needing medical help when she went cold turkey on TV

• Actress and dancer, 32, took part in new ITV show Sugar Free Farm
• Ditched sugary treats while living and working on farm with five celebs
• But withdrawal symptoms were so severe she needed medical attention
• Since taking part in the experiment she has lost one-and-a-half stone 

Actress Jennifer Ellison's addiction to sugar-ridden snacks and fizzy drinks was so severe she suffered debilitating withdrawal symptoms after going cold turkey.

Medics had to be called in when she took part in the new ITV show Sugar Free Farm which saw her ditch sugar for two weeks while living and working in the country with five other celebrities.

The former Brookside star's bad diet and habit of drinking up to eight cans of Coke a day had seen her balloon to 14 stone, and she reached breaking point as she toiled on the farm alongside singer Jane McDonald, comedian Rory McGrath, quiz mastermind Mark Labbett, actress Tupele Dorgu and TOWIE’s James ‘Arg’ Argent.

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Jennifer Ellison, 32, is one of six celebrities who took part in the Sugar Free Farm show, which saw celebrities ditch all sugar for two weeks and work on a farm to earn their share of healthy, wholesome food

But with the former Brookside star's addiction to sugary snacks the worse among all the famous faces, it was a struggle for her and she suffered debilitating withdrawal symptoms

'I got hit the hardest with withdrawal, as my sugar intake was the highest', she said.

'I was picking carrots with Jane on the farm and every time I bent down I felt like someone was standing on my eyeballs. I felt physically sick. 

'I had the worst headache I’ve ever, ever felt. If you’ve ever detoxed, take that feeling and times it by 10. We were detoxing from processed food, sugar, alcohol, everything.

'It was literally like someone had put my head in a vice and was just twisting it and twisting it. It felt like my eyes might pop out of my head. I went straight to bed when I got in and when I woke up the next morning I still felt a bit groggy, but I started to turn a corner and I felt a bit better.' 

Mum-of-three Jennifer, 32, from Liverpool, revealed her diet deteriorated after she opened her dance studio following the birth of her third son in 2014 - but she has now lost one-and-a-half stone thanks to the ITV experiment.

She said: 'I really neglected myself and took no time for myself at all, and I didn’t look after my fitness or my health.

She appears in the show alongside (left to right) quiz mastermind Mark Labbett, TOWIE’s James ‘Arg’ Argent, musical theatre star Jane McDonald, actress Tupele Dorgu and comedian Rory McGrath

Jennifer took part in Dancing on Ice back in 2012, when she had a much more slender frame - she attributes her weight gain since to being so busy since having her third child and opening a dance school

'I consumed a lot of sugar with sweets and chocolate. It just kept me going through the day when I’m really busy. 

'But the worst thing for me was cans of Coke. I’d have six to eight cans of Coke a day, which is terrible. You don’t think about sugar in a drink. You think it’s not that bad because it’s liquid, but it’s actually worse. 

'It was just really shocking and quite disturbing when you’re confronted with it and the consequences of it and what could happen. 

'The thing was, I wasn’t even really eating a lot. I was just snacking on rubbish. I wasn’t actually sitting down and eating pizza or a big roast. It was just wasted calories. 

Before the show, she consumed lots of sugar and chocolate, as well as up to eight cans of Coke a day 'to give her energy' - but realised she had a serious problem

'I’d wake up in the morning and not have time to have breakfast so I’d have a can of Coke to give me energy. 

'Then I’d skip lunch and have another can of Coke and grab some jelly sweets or a Mars bar. People can say they are a drug addict or an alcoholic but if you say you’re addicted to sugar you get laughed at. But it’s actually causing a greater problem for people and the NHS. 

'So Sugar Free Farm came along, and I just thought to myself I’ve actually got a really bad problem. My family and husband had been telling me for years and I suddenly thought that I really needed to do this for me. 

'My sugar was the highest intake out of everyone taking part, which was really disturbing. It made me feel quite sick actually.'