28 Facts About Gillian McKeith

Gillian McKeith was born on 28 September 1959 and is a Scottish television personality and writer.

Gillian McKeith is known for her promotion of various pseudoscientific ideas about health and nutrition.

In 2008, McKeith regularly appeared on the E4 health show Supersize vs Superskinny, and in 2010, she was a contestant on the tenth series of the ITV show I'm a Celebrity.

Gillian McKeith has no qualifications in nutrition or medicine from accredited institutions, and in 2007 agreed with the Advertising Standards Authority to stop using the title "Doctor".

Gillian McKeith faced criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic for promoting COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine views, and was described as a conspiracy theorist.

Gillian McKeith was born in Perth, Scotland, and grew up on a council estate.

Gillian McKeith's father, Robert, was a shipyard worker and her mother an office worker.

Gillian McKeith obtained a degree in linguistics from the University of Edinburgh in 1981, before moving to the United States, where she worked in marketing and international business.

Gillian McKeith is a member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, but this association runs no checks on the qualifications of its members; this allowed British physician Ben Goldacre to register his dead cat for the same membership held by McKeith.

Gillian McKeith rejected the claim that using the title to promote her theories on nutrition was unethical.

In July 2010, on Twitter, Gillian McKeith described Goldacre's book as "lies"; Goldacre requested a correction.

However, Gillian McKeith withdrew her application a few weeks later, and did not stand at the 2002 Camden elections.

Gillian McKeith first showed each of the subjects their typical week's food consumption.

Gillian McKeith often attributed some of the featured clients' health problems to a vitamin or mineral deficiency.

Gillian McKeith assesses people's nutritional needs based on the appearance of their nails, hair, lips, and skin.

Gillian McKeith argues that the appearance, smell and consistency of faeces can give clues to bodily malfunction.

Gillian McKeith frequently took up this practice during her television shows, a technique that led Ben Goldacre, a physician who wrote for The Guardian at the time, to dub her "the awful poo lady".

Gillian McKeith's advice is primarily alternative medicine without any scientific basis.

Gillian McKeith recommends a detox diet in which the "top 12 toxic terrors to avoid" are: smoking; caffeine; alcohol; chocolate and sweet snacks; pub snacks such as crisps, nuts, and pork scratchings; processed meat; white bread, white pasta, white rice; products containing added sugar; takeaways and ready meals; table salt; saturated fats; and fizzy drinks.

In 2007, Gillian McKeith presented Three Fat Brides, One Thin Dress for Channel 4, a competitive version of the You Are What You Eat format in which three women compete for a designer wedding dress.

Gillian McKeith competed in The X Factor: Battle of the Stars, singing her rendition of "The Shoop Shoop Song".

Gillian McKeith appeared in a health show transmitted on E4 called Supersize vs Superskinny.

In January 2016, Gillian McKeith appeared on Celebrity Big Brother as a short-term housemate, sent in to 'detox' the contestants.

Gillian McKeith expressed her belief in a conspiracy of impending "martial law" and "fascist tyranny".

Gillian McKeith urged followers to refuse vaccines, referring to them as "clotshots", and instead suggested without evidence that nutrition could provide immunity against infection, prompting criticism from the British Nutrition Foundation and British Dietetic Association.

Gillian McKeith spoke at another protest in July 2021 alongside the conspiracy theorists David Icke and Piers Corbyn and again at a London protest that December.

Gillian McKeith met her husband, the American lawyer Howard Magaziner, in Edinburgh, where he was spending a year studying.

Gillian McKeith suffers from scoliosis, and has said there is not a moment in her life when she is not in pain because of it.