Sam Faiers has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

The Only Way Is Essex star had been suffering with a mystery illness for six weeks before being diagnosed with the long-term inflammatory bowel disease.

She started to feel unwell during her time in the Celebrity Big Brother house last month, and was twice rushed to hospital where she had tests.

She said: "I had an upset tummy, cold sweats and headaches. I couldn't hold any food down for over a week and my face swelled up."

A spokeswoman for Faiers has now told MailOnline: “I can confirm that Sam has very recently been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.”

[related]The site reports that Sam has lost a stone and a half and now weighs just 7st 3lbs.

It’s thought she will have to change her diet dramatically and will need to go on a liquid-only diet for six weeks to "reset her bowel".

A source told the Daily Mirror: "It's Sam's diet that will be most affected by the diagnosis. She is suffering from lots of ulcers, so she needs to give them time to heal before she looks at the long term effects of diagnosis.

"At the moment, she is just trying to cope with the excruciating stomach cramps. That has been the most difficult thing. Now, she is working with her gastroenterologist to see if she can work around her illness."

The 11th series of TOWIE returns on Sunday (23 February) at 10pm on ITV2.