Sophie Taylor is aiming to break a taboo and help others after discovering that she has a debilitating health condition while filming a new Gordon Ramsay series. The young entrepreneur is a contestant on series two of Gordon Ramsey’s Future Food Stars on BBC One.
Sophie, the founder of Sophie’s Iced Coffee, a range of ready-to-drink dairy-free iced coffees, is one of 12 contestants competing to win a £150,000 business investment from TV chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay to help support her business growth.
After suffering symptoms while filming the series last June, Sophie was diagnosed with severe IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome), a condition that affects the digestive system which massively impacted her time on the show. IBS, for which as yet there's no cure and no exact cause known, affects one in five people and two thirds of the people affected are women.
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"We were filming and I didn't know about IBS but I started having symptoms at this time," recalled Sophie. "I had really bad flatulence and I was mic'd up at the time so I was worried it was going to be more amplified by the mic. I was worried about it affecting my performance.
"The production and the team were really amazing and managed to go up and speak to the medic on site. I was in a lot a pain and had cramps. Because I didn't know it was IBS at the time I didn't know what was going on so I was scared and anxious. But I didn't want to quit."
Sophie has now become an ambassador for the IBS Network, the UKs biggest and leading IBS charity that has been running for over 40 years – and has been working with them regularly to raise awareness and normalise IBS, especially amongst women.
Sophie, 24, added: "It's a taboo subject and nobody wants to say 'sorry I've got diarrhea coming out of me right now' or 'I can't stop the flatulence.' The opportunity meant so much to me and because my performance was affected I thought 'I have to do something to raise awareness.'
"I was diagnosed with severe IBS and I try and talk about it. It's a condition where it's hard to get diagnosed. It's hard to have it taken seriously as well. Also people don't want to talk about it. Sometimes even now I'm embarrassed or I'll laugh when I'm taking about it.
"I feel awkward becaise it's a taboo subject. The other day it was a Friday night and I just burst out crying because I was lying in bed with diarrhea, mucus and agonising cramps and feeling really bad. I thought 'this is just affecting my life.'
"I want to go for my dreams so I just want to raise awareness so that other people don't feel so self-conscious about talking about it. Hopefully one day we'll get a cure to help us a bit more."
She added: "I hadn't had anything until filming and that's why I was so shocked. I didn't know what IBS was and what was going wrong with my body so that's why I was scared and panicked and anxious.
"It was scaring me and embarrassed but part of me was saying 'get on with it you've worked for this opportunity.' I'm never one to quit. Everyone there as amazing and supportive.
"If I had known what it was maybe wouldn't have been so scared so it's important to break that taboo. We don't want to talk about our toilet habits, and from the business side of things it's always going to be harder for women. You have to fight that little bit harder.vIt's bad enough that without having to run out because you've got diarrhea."
Sophie says she's now "passionate" about raising awareness of the condition. "And I talk about it in the gruesome-ist way because it's hard to understand how serious it is," she said.
"I was getting my hair done the other day and someone said they diodn't know what IBS was. They were explaining their symptoms to me and they'd been on nights out and suddenly had really, really bad diarrhea to the point where they'd had to go home.
"People suffer with symptoms but there's not enough awareness around in order for it to be taken seriously and it's hard to get a diagnosis, especially through the NHS. I was able to speak to someone privately and that's how I got my diagnosis. I'm hopeful there will be some more research and eventually there might be a cure or something to help us."
Since filming for the show, Sophie has undergone a multitude of tests including colonoscopies, endoscopies, and ultrasounds as well as trying many different medications including Rifaximin and several different antibiotics, Omeprazole and over the counter medications. She is currently taking Amitriptyline which reduces the symptoms for one in three people diagnosed with IBS.
So far, nothing has worked to reduce her symptoms. She currently has at least six bouts of diarrhoea per day and suffers continuous painful cramping and struggled massively with IBS attacks while filming the show. Most of her time is spent on the toilet or running to the toilet and it’s been affecting her day-to-day life.
Sophie now finds it difficult to socialise with friends and often remains in bed for days at a time crying in pain. As well as feeling nervous and anxious to leave the house she will refrain from eating food if she does have to go out to limit the effects.
She told us: "Day to day I never know when it's going to strike or what can cause it, or how to manage it. I try as much as I can to work at home. I can have a shower in the middle of the day when I need to.
"There have been times when I've been having a Zoom call and I've had to sit feeling really uncomfortable. I have to live life around IBS and I am scared sometimes to leave the house."
To celebrate Gordon Ramsey’s Future Food Stars starting tomorrow night (Thursday March 29), Sophie has launched a limited edition cream flavoured Americano canned drink alongside her original hazelnut and cococont and hazelnut and cococont with turmeric flavoured vegan bottled drinks.
She said about working with the chef: "What you see with him is exactly what you get. He is how he comes across on TV. He was amazing and obviously he's got so much experience. To have the opportunity to learn from him it's just been an amazing experience."
Sophie, who is intolerant to dairy, started out making her vegan iced coffees at the age of 17 when she was working in her local coffee shop in Essex. She pitched to Dragons' Den star Peter Jones as part of the Young National Entrepreneur Competition and was given confidence to take it forward. Her drinks are currently stocked by Holland and Barrett, B&M, and Herron Foods as well as being available to order online.
Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars starts on Thursday, March 30 at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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