An actress who became so fat she had give up playing fairy tale beauties such as Snow White is Thin-derella again – after shedding five stone.
Mum-of-two Clare Cunliffe-Saunders spent years performing in children’s theatre as heroines including Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
But after a hip injury forced her to halt her career Clare, 34, piled on the pounds – and was left only able to play an Ugly Sister.
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She was also pregnant with her first child and spent her days on the sofa gorging on biscuits, cakes, sweets and doughnuts.
Her weight soared to a bulky 14 stone and she feared her showbiz days were over as she struggled to walk even short distances.
But she started her comeback after football yobs spotted her alone on a railway station and cruelly mocked the size of her bum.
She started a fitness and diet regime and is now a healthy nine stone – and able to slip into the fairy outfits to play her favourite roles again.
Clare, of Nottingham, said: “I worked in children’s theatre for years and played all the fairy tale parts like Snow White and Rapunzel.
“But just after getting pregnant at the age of 29 I damaged my hip when I kicked too high in a dance.
“It was too painful to walk and I went from being in good shape to doing nothing and just eating in front of the telly.
“My weight shot up by five stone in just three months and I was more of a fairy blobmother than a beautiful princess.
“I was far too big to go back to what I’d been doing before – none of the costumes would fit me and none of the characters I had played are fat.
“Everything came to a head one night when I was catching the train back from a hen do and a group of football fans saw me on a station and started singing about me.
“They were drunk and just being stupid, but it was very hurtful and as soon as I met my husband I burst into tears.
“I said to myself ‘That’s right – enough’s enough, I’m going to lose all this weight.”
Clare says after the birth of daughter Rose, now five, her weight dropped by four stone – only to shoot up again as she began expecting her son George, three.
She started with Weightwatchers and then went on the Dukan diet while also keeping fit with zumba classes, swimming and walking.
Clare is so pleased with her transformation she has now launched her own kids’ entertainment company, dressing as Disney and storybook characters for parties.
She added: “Within a year I was back to around nine stone and I’m very happy this way.
”People don’t shout nasty things at me any more – and I look the part again for the children.”
