https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bride-sheds-massive-17stone-still-22468884?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Mirror12at19&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&ccid=2369561Bride-to-be sheds massive 17stone but is still too mortified to let the groom see her naked
Gemma Brockway, from Liverpool, can't wait to walk down the aisle with fiancé Phil Hughes but she still won't let him see her naked on her wedding night
By Ann Cusack & Jane Lavender Assistant Editor
10:05, 5 AUG 2020
Gemma Brockway was so heartbroken when her weight ballooned to 30stone she considered taking her own life until she met her soul-mate. Determined to slim down, Gemma has now shed an incredible 17stone but says she is still too mortified to be seen naked by her husband-to-be even on their wedding night. And Gemma isn't the only one to slim down. At his heaviest, Phil weighed a huge 46stone but has managed to lose 35 stone. The couple is now planning their wedding next year but Gemma doesn't want to strip off on her wedding night because she hates the excess skin left by her weight loss. Laboratory assistant, Gemma, from Liverpool, says: “I got to the point where I no longer wanted to live because my weight made me miserable. I was actually considering suicide when I got a random text message from a friend and it saved my life. I started dieting, and I met Phil, who had lost a load of weight himself. We just clicked; we were soul mates and we were so happy. I can’t wait to marry him, but I can’t bring myself to let him see me naked. It breaks my heart to think that he won’t see me naked even on our wedding night.â€
The 33-year-old struggled with her weight throughout her childhood and was bullied at school because she had a lisp and says she sought solace in food. She explained: “I could eat entire multi-packs of Space Raider crisps 10 bags at a time. I used to hide away in the toilet to eat, where nobody could see me. My family had no idea what I was going through. I was bullied at first because I had a slight lisp, but as time went on, I was bullied because of my weight. I had balls thrown at me and once I had to have my head stitched because someone threw a stone at me. My family was always very supportive, and I had a couple of close friends, but mostly I was very lonely. I actually went to school with Phil, and I liked him, but we hardly spoke. I never thought for a moment he might fancy me because I felt I was too fat. Apparently, he felt the same but neither of us had the confidence to speak out!â€
By the time she left school, Gemma was a dress size 30 and dropped out of university, where she was training to be a teacher, because of her weight. In 2010 her grandmother, Christina, died and she comfort ate to cope with her heartbreak but by 2014 she had hit 30 stones and was at such a low point that she considered suicide. Gemma said: "I got to the point where I considered killing myself and I got a text message off a friend. I told him I was looking at my tablets wanting to take them, and he saved me. I feel sure this was my gran looking down on me and making sure I got help.â€
She went to her GP for help and was referred her to a gym for walking and exercise. In November 2016, she had a gastric bypass and started losing dramatic amounts of weight. Early last year, Phil, who she'd known at school, sent her a friend request on Facebook. Gemma said: “I didn’t recognize Phil because he had lost so much weight. I had to check that it was the same person I’d been to school with. He had the same problem with me I’d lost so much weight that he didn’t know it was me.â€
The pair began dating and quickly fell in love, supporting each other in their weight loss. Gemma said: “Phil confessed he had fancied me all through school but felt too embarrassed about his weight to ask me out. I felt just the same.â€
Phil, 34, once weighed 46 stones and wore a size 7XL shirt but managed to shed 35 stone by cutting out McDonald’s and bacon butties before having surgery to remove his excess skin on the NHS. He proposed before Christmas and his and Gemma's wedding date is set for next year. But though Gemma is thrilled with her weight loss, she cannot bear for Phil to see her naked because of the excess skin left behind. Doctors estimate it weighs around three stones. She currently weighs 13stone, while Phil is a trim 15stone.
