» Trinny and Susannah
Rachel Pegg meets Trinny and Susannah as they take to the road to alter Britain’s perception of body image
So here I am, stripping off for Trinny and Susannah. Having pledged to myself not to take off my clothes when covering the Brighton leg of their body image roadshow, it didn’t take long for me to crack.
Within minutes of meeting them I am wearing a lovely shiny-purple full-body leotard and parading in front of a TV camera, two photographers and a roomful of people. It’s not how I usually spend my Sunday mornings, but Trinny, Susannah and their team are very persuasive.
Their latest ITV programme is all about Britain’s body image. The Great British Body roadshow travelled around the country auditing the vital statistics of thousands of people and asking them personal questions about how they feel about their figures. The point is to get an accurate picture of how we Brits see ourselves and what the average shape is really like.
“If you have a squidgy-widgy nose, 3,000 other people have it. If you have massive breasts, you’re not the only one”
Hundreds of people turned up to the Dome to have themselves measured, weighed and photographed. Most, like me, were not exactly supermodels. But all were happy to let strangers scrutinise their lumps and bumps in the name of scientific research – or was it the lure of getting on television?
Some had sad stories to tell. Helen Taylor, 31, from Burgess Hill, attended because she is a huge fan of Trinny and Susannah and wanted their advice on her body problems.
She said: “I have had three baby girls and I prolapsed, so I can’t walk too far. I have to rest quite often. It’s sad because I love walking and running and I like exercising. I am unsure where to go from here.”
Helen also donned a purple leotard as part of an experiment to find out whether people’s body image matches up to how they actually look. A photograph of each person in lycra was taken, then distorted on a computer screen. The subject had to manipulate the image to what they thought was their actual size, then to their ideal size. Experts were on hand to explain the results.
Professor Nichola Rumsey, of the Centre for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England in Bristol, who led the experiment, said: “What we are finding is people have a tendency to overestimate their actual size. When we have asked them to indicate their ideal size, that has been quite a lot smaller, particularly for women – they will drop by two dress sizes, which is a reflection from the media and from society.”
Other scientists took saliva samples to test for the ‘fat gene‘ which, if you are a carrier, can increase your size by half a stone compared to someone with a similar lifestyle. Trinny told me: “People who have thegene from both parents have more susceptibility, so when they eat they put on weight.
“It’s a good test for people who can’t understand why they put on weight and other people don’t, and it’s not a food disorder. It’s dispelling myths. The fundamental of what a woman or a man feels about their body is still what drives their confidence levels.
“We’re very aware nowadays of how many magazines there are and influences there are for all different ages, saying: ‘Go on a diet, do this and you’ll be acceptable.’ The pressure on different areas of our society is much greater.“
She said there was an “emotional element” to the research. “It’s to say: ‘If you have a squidgy-widgy nose, 3,000 other people have it. If you have massive breasts, you’re not the only one – they aren’t actually that massive. The average weight in England for a woman is eleven stone three. When we were in Newcastle, a lot of people thought it was less than that. When we started talking about average, they suddenly felt comfortable.”
Susannah added: “We want to find out what is the archetypal 2008 body because it hasn’t been audited ever. Even more important is how we feel about our bodies today and what our body image is like and we’re expecting it to be pretty poor actually.” Susannah, who lives in Sussex, thought people came to the roadshow because they wanted a solution to their body woes. She said: “Here the solution is: ‘Oh my God, I’m not alone.’ That’s a real Britishness; we’re all supporting each other and there’s a real sense of unity.
“People do want to feel better about themselves. The lid will be lifted off the fact that everybody isn’t a size zero and airbrushing does make people look a lot better and normal is how you and I are, and abnormal is those freaks who are a size zero.”
Among those who took part were Shoreham lifeboat volunteers and the Brighton Belles, a branch of the Red Hat Society, which is a social group of over-50s women who dress in purple in reference to the Jenny Joseph poem ‘When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple/ With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me’. Their ‘Queen’ Helen Fearne said her body image was improving with age. “I am 64 and I am getting used to being the way I am.”
The roadshow is searching for a man and a woman with unusual stories about their bodies to inspire a living sculpture in East Sussex on Saturday (26 April). About 500 people will strip naked on The Downs and join together to create the shape of those two people.
Find out more at www.itv.com/body or to take part call Gee Corbett on 0207 1574721.
