Imogen Thomas has told how she struggled with her weight as she turned to binge eating during the Ryan Giggs superinjunction controversy.
A year ago, the high-profile former Big Brother contestant was accused of trying to blackmail the Manchester United footballer over their alleged affair. A court later heard there was no basis on which to accuse her of this.
Imogen admits that emotional eating over the past 12 months left her feeling fed-up with her more fulsome size 12 figure.
"I think all girls have issues about their weight," she said. "I don't think I'm the only person out there. I've always been a binge girl — I'll always binge on certain days. I get bad days when I could eat four packets of crisps. It's not to do with being hungry, I'm eating because I want to feel better."
Spending so much time in the public eye and featuring regularly in lads' magazines, Imogen is reported to have lined up a cameo in the award-winning Channel Four show Shameless. But the 29-year-old is quick to hit the gym if she doesn't like the look of a picture.
"I get photographed a lot and I see lots of photos of myself, so that makes me more conscious of what I look like," she said. "You look at photographs and go, 'oh my God, look how huge I am, I have to go to the gym'."
Imogen has had her share of critics on the social networking site Twitter. She says: "I will always get criticised the most because I am in the public eye. My mum's Italian, so I've got the curves. People say, 'how can you say size 12 is fat?'. Well, for my height, it was quite overweight."
She says Slimsticks, which she now represents, has helped her control her appetite and lose a dress size.
"I'm happy with my weight as it is now," she says. I'm a size 10 to 12, but now I feel extremely comfortable in my body. I'm not promoting a size zero because I could never be that size and I don't think it looks good. Back in the day I was a size 8 when I was Miss Wales, but your body does change. I remember in 2006 when I was in the Big Brother house, I wore these All Saints jeans and six months later I couldn't get into them. My hips had changed so much, your body changes as you get older."
But she believes she is reaching greater maturity: "People say, 'look, you've got an amazing body', but I'm in the gym all the time. I do cardio work four times a week. The older I'm getting, I am more comfortable with myself and what I'm doing with my life."
