A lady who was bullied for being fat at school has had the last laugh – by winning Miss Great Britain 2020 edition.
Jen Atkin, who weighed 113kg at her heaviest, was branded “Jen Fatkin” in the playground.
Bullies also threw food at her, stole her PE kit and took vile swipes at her every day until she left the school.
The 26-year-old told Fabulous : “I tried to keep my head down at school, but the bullying was horrendous and I’d often go home in tears.
“Ironically, food was my comfort, as it was all I had to look forward to.”
Jen’s unhealthy relationship with food becane worse after she passed her driving test.
The Grimsby-based lady started driving to fast food outlets frequently.
And when she got a boyfriend at 18, she started eating out at more.
She revealed: “We loved nights out in bars and restaurants and once we bought our own place two years later we enjoyed takeaways in front of the telly.
“I was in denial and even when I’d overhear people mutter ‘fat cow’ I always tried to push it to the back of my mind.
Jen was in denial about her weight gain but was forced to face it in 2015.
After being dumped by her boyfriend, she started comfort eating more.
And it wasn’t until a stark conversation with her doctor that she decided she needed to change her lifestyle.
She was told she had put on four stone in four years, which was the wake up call she needed.
Jen vowed to lose weight and overhauled her diet.
She started shopping for healthier food and cut sugary snacks out of her diet.
Jen started exercising and cycled to work every day.
She looks unrecognisable three years on – and impressed judges at beauty pageants after showing off her eight stone weight loss.
After winning Miss Yorkshire in 2018, the beauty queen was entered into Miss England.
She came eighth at the time – but went on to be crowned the 75th Miss Great Britain in March 2020.
Jen has since spoken about the importance of telling overweight people they are “obese”.
She says it was her doctor’s truthful evaluation that helped her to start her weight loss journey.
While she doesn’t agree with “fat-shaming”, she says people can be “way too easily offended” when talking about their size.
