Louise Thompson: Stoma Bag, Health Journey, and Advocacy

Anyone who has followed Louise Thompson since her Made in Chelsea days has watched her story shift from reality-TV gloss to something far harder. In April 2024 she revealed that ulcerative colitis had led to major surgery and a stoma bag — the price she pays, she said, for improved health, and what followed was a public education campaign about stomas, PTSD, and birth trauma that most celebrities would prefer to skip.

Born: 26 March 1990 · Known for: Made in Chelsea · Health condition: Ulcerative colitis · Stoma bag: Yes (revealed April 2024) · Partner: Ryan Libbey

Eight facts anchor the rest of this guide, and one pattern runs through them: the verified record is deep on Thompson’s health, but thin on her family’s private details.

What exactly happened to Louise Thompson?

The short version: a reality-TV star developed a serious bowel disease, survived a traumatic birth, delayed surgery as long as she could, and then needed it anyway. In 2018, Thompson said she had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. During severe flares, she described substantial blood loss and needing the bathroom about every 20 minutes (BBC News).

Her first medication worked relatively quickly and put her into remission, but it later stopped working, and she was moved onto a different drug, vedolizumab (ABC News).

What illness does Louise Thompson have?

• Ulcerative colitis — a chronic inflammatory bowel disease affecting the large intestine
• Diagnosed in 2018; initial treatment worked for a while, then lost effectiveness
• The disease eventually led to removal of her colon

In simple terms, ulcerative colitis inflames the lining of the colon, causing urgent bowel movements, bleeding, and pain. Thompson’s case shows how quickly the disease can move from manageable to life-threatening.

What was Louise Thompson’s birth trauma?

Thompson’s son Leo was born in 2021, and media reports connect the difficult birth with the rapid deterioration of her health that followed (i newspaper). She has reported life-threatening complications around the delivery, including a major haemorrhage and further bleeding once she was home (The Standard (London daily)).

• 2021: Leo’s birth and major haemorrhage
• Postpartum bleeding at home
• Colitis worsened in the months after

When surgeons recommended removing her colon, she resisted, then agreed. After the operation she developed sepsis and spent about a week in intensive care (i newspaper).

What this means: the medical timeline, from diagnosis to intensive care, spanned six years of careful management that eventually broke down.

Is Louise Thompson still with her partner?

Yes — and that consistency has been one of the most stable parts of her story. Thompson is engaged to Ryan Libbey, and the couple have a young son together.

• Partner: Ryan Libbey
• Son: Leo, born in 2021
• Relationship: intact through diagnosis, surgery, and the stoma reveal

The relationship predates the health crisis and has run through all of it. While much of the coverage focused on her surgery, Libbey has been the fixed point in the account she chooses to share.

What this means: the gossip question has a quiet answer. The couple stayed together through the years that would have ended many celebrity relationships — and that, for followers, is part of the story.

Does Louise Thompson have a stoma bag?

Yes. In April 2024, she confirmed on Instagram that she had been fitted with a stoma bag after surgery, describing it as something that may have saved her life and the price she pays for improved health (BBC News). She has nicknamed it “le bum bag” (Closer (UK celebrity magazine)).

• Stoma bag: yes, colostomy, revealed April 2024
• Surgery: reportedly January 2024, per Enable Magazine — only the April reveal is fully confirmed
• Public stance: she doesn’t want it hidden

The surgery removed her colon — a procedure she had resisted until her health left no room for negotiation. The bag that followed has since become the centre of her public work.

She’s not the only reality star to have turned a personal health story into public advocacy: Gemma Atkinson has been similarly open about her own health and family journey.

Does Adele wear a stoma bag?

• No credible reporting supports it
• The rumour circulates online without primary evidence

The Adele stoma rumour has no basis in any credible reporting. It is a reminder that celebrity health gossip attaches to the biggest available name.

Does Miley Cyrus use a stoma bag?

• No credible evidence links Miley Cyrus to stoma surgery
• Same rumour pattern as the Adele claim: loud online, silent in reliable sources

As with Adele, the Miley Cyrus version circulates without documentation. Neither rumour appears in any of the medical or entertainment reporting reviewed.

Do you smell if you have a colostomy bag?

Modern ostomy bags are odor-resistant. The materials are designed to contain smell, and the bag is worn under clothing, so the fear of being noticed is largely outdated.

The smell question is really a dignity question: people fear being noticed. The bag’s job is to make the wearer unnoticeable.

Do you still feel the need to poop with a colostomy bag?

• You can still feel the urge — the digestive tract’s signals don’t disappear
• But waste exits through the stoma into the bag, not through the anus
• The bag takes over the storage role the colon used to play

The sensation is real, but the route changes. Thompson’s account of her first weeks with the bag suggests the mental adjustment is bigger than the physical one.

What is an intimacy wrap?

An intimacy wrap is a garment worn during sex to conceal the stoma bag, so the wearer can focus on the moment rather than the pouch. It is designed for confidence as much as concealment.

Am I classed as disabled if I have a stoma bag?

• It depends on the legal framework and how much the condition affects daily life
• Having a stoma may qualify as a disability under certain laws
• The assessment is individual, not automatic

Thompson has framed her stoma not as a disability but as a life-saving adaptation. Both things are compatible: a device that saves you, and a legal system that recognises how much work it takes to adjust.

The trade-off: the mechanics of stoma life are solvable — the bag is odor-resistant, intimacy wraps exist, and daily activity remains possible. The stigma is the last thing to go, which is why Thompson’s visibility matters beyond her own story.

The implication: for anyone adjusting to a stoma, the practical challenges are secondary to the psychological acceptance that Thompson models.

What does Sam and Louise Thompson’s dad do?

This is the question with the thinnest public record. Louise and Sam Thompson’s father is described as a successful businessman, but the specifics of his work have stayed private — which is unusual for a family so visible on television.

• Father: a businessman; details publicly scarce
• Brother Sam: also a reality TV star
• Family: prominent in London social circles

The contrast is telling: the same family that keeps its business life quiet has, through Louise, become unusually open about medicine. That openness is a choice — and it’s why we know far more about her surgery than about her father’s career. Amy Childs has made a similar calculation, turning her own family and health story into a long-running public career.

The pattern: Thompson’s public story is curated around health, not family money. The silence around her father is a reminder that even the most open celebrity is selective about what she shares.

Separating confirmed facts from speculation

Thompson has documented her own health crisis, so the confirmed list is long. But several details remain genuinely open — and distinguishing the two is essential.

Confirmed facts

• Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2018 (BBC News)
• Had her colon removed and now wears a stoma bag (ABC News)
• Experienced a major haemorrhage after giving birth in 2021 (The Standard (London daily))
• Is engaged to Ryan Libbey; the couple have a son (i newspaper)
• Has spoken openly about PTSD and birth trauma

What’s unclear

• Whether she plans stoma reversal surgery
• Whether the stoma is intended to be permanent
• The precise timeline of her PTSD recovery
• The exact date of her stoma surgery — reported as January 2024
• Whether her birth complications caused the colitis deterioration or merely coincided with it
• What her father’s business actually involves

What this means: the central claims about Thompson check out — the colitis, the haemorrhage, the sepsis, the bag. What doesn’t check out is the certainty around the details: dates, permanence, and cause-and-effect are fuzzier than the headlines suggest.

What Louise Thompson says about living with a stoma

Thompson’s own words have driven the public conversation more than any medical explainer.

“I wear many hats.”

Louise Thompson, Instagram bio

She told ABC News Australia that she did not want to keep the stoma hidden indefinitely, and she told Enable Magazine that she had come close to dying and viewed staying alive as a reason to accept the stoma.

The through-line across all three: Thompson treats the stoma as a survival story, not a shameful one. That reframing is her real contribution to the public health conversation.

The takeaway

Thompson’s health crisis could have stayed private. Instead, she turned a colostomy bag into a teaching tool and a birth trauma into an advocacy platform. The stoma she once resisted has become the centre of her most visible work. For anyone newly living with a stoma, the decision is clear: follow her example and treat the bag as a life-saver rather than a secret, or let the fear — and the stigma — decide for you.

Frequently asked questions