TV personality Gail Porter talks frankly about her lifelong struggle with the size of her breasts and her renewed sense of self since she had them reduced
After Gail Porter had a 100ft naked image of her curvy body projected onto the Houses of Parliament, you might think she was proud of her figure...
But the former model and actress has revealed that her unusually large breasts have caused her crippling mental issues.
Gail, 45, has now undergone breast reduction surgery and says she has never been happier.
The 90s pin-up took part in the publicity stunt for FHM magazine in 1999, when she was a 30DD, but even then she was struggling with her self-image.
She told The Sun: “I always hated my massive breasts. When they were projected on the Houses of Parliament I still had no body confidence.
“I resorted to the point of anorexia just to get rid of them, but they wouldn’t go. If I put on weight it went straight to my breasts.”
At their largest her breasts swelled to 28JJ, but after surgery two months ago they are now 8lb lighter and down to a 28C.
She said: “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
“People think it’s great to have big boobs, but I’ve struggled with them all my life. My boobs were so big on my tiny frame that my back had actually started to curve.
“When I took my bra off, my boobs would fall down to my knees and clap together. Now they stand up on their own.”
The former Live & Kicking Saturday morning show presenter revealed she had spent her twenties on a diet of cucumber and grapes, restricting her diet in the hopes of reducing the size of her breasts.
Gail said: “When I was modelling I was very thin, purely because I wanted to make my breasts as small as possible.”
The mother-of-one battled bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism, and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act five years ago after a breakdown. She has also struggled with alopecia, losing her long blonde hair.
But now things are looking up.
“My life has totally changed. My confidence has soared and my exercise regime is so much easier without the extra 8lb of flesh,” she said.
“My posture is totally different, I am not ashamed to sit upright. I can find clothes that fit and my body is in proportion.
“When I was pregnant, I couldn’t get a bra to fit and with my depression I was scared I was being made fun of, so I would not leave the house.
“Now I’m walking down the street full of confidence.”
The new series of Celebrity Botched Up Bodies begins on Thursday, September 15 at 10pm on Channel 5.
