A Journey of Strength and Awareness
Dressed in a blue gown, smiling weakly while giving a thumbs up to the camera, former Gogglebox star Isabelle Silbery snapped a photo from her hospital bed. The beloved reality show favorite – who was axed from Gogglebox in 2025 after 17 seasons on the couch – was sending a message to fans: she was going to be okay.
But it’s no doubt been a rollercoaster few days for Isabelle, 41, who rose to fame alongside her mum Kerry and now late grandma Emmie on the hit Channel 10 show. “I don’t use this platform for sympathy but rather awareness,” she shared in an Instagram post about what she’d gone through.
With what she thought was a tummy bug, Isabelle pushed through 48 hours of pain until she couldn’t take it anymore. “I listened to my body and got checked even though a part of me would’ve been embarrassed if I was sent home with gastro. I can be a cry baby with pain but I knew in my gut (lol) something wasn’t right,” she added.
The star went on to reveal that she had a large ovarian cyst which had burst, causing her appendix to become infected. While the diagnosis was no doubt a shock, she revealed that she had since undergone surgery and was now recovering. “Thank god for amazing nurses, a job I could never do yet admire so highly,” Isabelle wrote.
Another image shared to her Instagram showed Isabelle post-op, with incisions across her abdomen covered with dressings. As fellow former Goggleboxer Angie Kent told Isabelle that she was sending her “love and healing vibes”, the star responded, “you know all too well about laparoscopies”.
Indeed, Angie – who appeared on Gogglebox between 2015 and 2018 alongside her best friend Yvie – had been candid about her own need for surgery amid an endometriosis diagnosis and IVF journey. “What was meant to be a ‘check and tidy up’ turned into advanced endometriosis, adhesions, cysts, a fibroid and significant inflammation being found and removed,” Angie shared in an Instagram post in February about a laparoscopy she went through as she prepared for IVF.
“This surgery wasn’t about perfection before embryo transfer. It was about improving conditions. Reducing inflammation. Giving my first embryo the best possible environment,” she wrote. “There are no guarantees in IVF. But there is power in information. And there is power in advocating for specialist care.”
“If you have chronic ‘invisible’ symptoms, or even suspect something isn’t right ….please investigate properly. Especially before embryo transfer or after IVF,” she continued. “Endometriosis can exist even when scans look normal. I’m obviously no doctor. I’m sharing lived experience, supported by incredible specialists I’ve cultivated over the many years of searching for answers!”
“Women deserve more than being dismissed. I’m healing now. Slowly. Gently. With hope. A fresh womb. And 14 embryos waiting.”
