04 July 2023 , 19:32
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The third series of Cooking with the Stars is finally here, with eight celebrities - including Claire Richards - competing for the big win.
Last year's series was won by TV doctor Ranj Singh, with McFly drummer Harry Judd being the reigning champion the year before - and Steps' Claire, 45, is hoping to win big this series as she hopes to impress the judges with her kitchen skills.
The ITV competition invites a different professional chef to judge the celebrities' efforts, before one is eliminated.
This year, Claire is battling it out against celebrities including Peter Andre, Chris Eubank, Samia Longchambon, Joanna Page, Indiyah Polack, Jason Watkins, and Matt Willis.
Claire Richards' debilitating health struggle and body image battle before weight loss (Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty I)
Claire said she battled every day to keep her slim figure after gaining weight years ago (WireImage)Claire is appearing on the ITV show after opening up about health struggles in recent days as she revealed that the early stages of perimenopause left her housebound.
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The singer, who is mum to Charlie, 16, and Daisy, 13 with husband Reece Hill - revealed she felt unable to leave home as she struggled with 'horrendous' symptoms which included severe anxiety, 'the worst' palpitations, 'pounding' through her neck, and feeling as though she was 'shrivelling up from the inside out.'
Claire explained that she was in denial for several months about her condition, and said that her crippling 'fear' prevented her from seeking treatment sooner as she attempted to continue her life as normal, despite the debilitating symptoms.
The Tragedy hitmaker is now on hormone replacement therapy and is starting to feel 'more like herself,' as it helps to ease symptoms which left her housebound for so long.
Speaking to The Mirror, Claire explained: "This last year has been a weird one. I started getting perimenopause symptoms and I was like, 'Hold on a second, I don't like this'.
'When I was doing The Masked Singer, the anxiety was horrendous. I was having the worst palpitations, pounding through my neck. I didn't feel I could give it my best at all. You kind of feel like you're shrivelling up from the inside out. It took me a long time to address it. It's a milestone, isn't it? I'm not an angry person at all, but you can feel it rising."
"My husband knows I'm going through something and he's been really patient. I'm definitely feeling more like myself. It must be the HRT starting to work," she added.
Throughout her successful music career, Claire has also been open and honest about her body struggles - admitting that she battles everyday to keep her slim figure.
Claire revealed last year that she has struggles with body image since rising to fame as a member of Steps at the age of just 18.
Claire had been battling her condition in silence (Getty Images for British Summer Time)
The singer has opened up about her body image issues (Getty Images)The singer became a household name thanks to her time in the popular '90s band and has previously spoke about how she struggled with her relationship with her body - going from 'dangerously thin' to 'obese'.
Speaking to Sophie Ellis-Bextor on her Spinnin' Plates podcast, she said: "All my issues started when I got into the band.
Claire Richards wanted her body 'completely covered up' in Masked Singer costume
"Not even Steps, the first band, we were put on a diet immediately and told to lose weight, I was 18, the things that I did from then on, all I ate was peas and fish fingers for ages. The day of the audition for Steps, they said they wanted me but wanted me to lose weight."
Claire continued: "I'm better now but it is still something that is in my head every single day and I think also knowing the things that we had to deal with, was airbrush.
"I remember going for a meeting years ago and our record company were trying to persuade us to do FHM, the way they persuaded us, or tried to persuade us to do it was, they came and they brought two photographs and said this is the photo - the airbrushed photo - but this is what it looked like before, so look what we can do, we can make you look like this - and that was the selling point."
The singer stated that people often have a 'lack of understanding' over what makes people overweight, saying it's not always a case of being lazy.
Following the split-up of Steps, Claire previously revealed she went up to a size 20, before losing six stone in 2017.