Fern Britton - how naughty is she?

[Fenella]

Fern Britton has lost over five stone of fat, which is brilliant, but she let everyone think she'd done it via diet and excercise. It turned out that she had a gastric band operation which she only admitted when it became public.

Obviously it's her own business how she lost the weight, and I'm not knocking her for having a gastric band op, but she is a famous person and she must know that thousands of women will have been inspired by her weight loss and thought that if she could do it, so could they, so they must feel a bit let down now. She should really have fessed up earlier IMO. What do you reckon?

[Adam]

And some links.

http://www.showbizspy.com/06032008/ryvita-defends-fern-britton-over-weight-loss-surgery
http://www.showbizspy.com/06022008/fern-britton-defends-gastric-band-op

She would've dieted, though - as the gastric band would've forced her - and I imagine she probably did do some exercise as she lost weight so quickly.

She's not really lying; she just didn't tell people she'd had surgery.

[Fenella]

No, she didn't lie, but not many overweight people can have an op like that, and it did help her an awful lot - she didn't have to rely on willpower or anything like that. I just think that someone in her position should have been a bit more honest so that all the women who admired her self-discipline wouldn't feel so let down. There's no shame to having a gastric band, it's just that I think she misled people.

Anne Diamond did the same thing - she was on that programme about weight loss and got kicked off didn't she?

[Adam]

No, she didn't lie, but not many overweight people can have an op like that, and it did help her an awful lot - she didn't have to rely on willpower or anything like that. I just think that someone in her position should have been a bit more honest so that all the women who admired her self-discipline wouldn't feel so let down. There's no shame to having a gastric band, it's just that I think she misled people.

Anne Diamond did the same thing - she was on that programme about weight loss and got kicked off didn't she?

She probably didn't think about other people when she was doing it, though. She did it entirely for herself. Yes, she's in a high-profile position, but everyone is entitled to a private life. Maybe she was embarrassed to say how desperate she was to lose weight?

[Fenella]

She probably didn't think about other people when she was doing it, though. She did it entirely for herself. Yes, she's in a high-profile position, but everyone is entitled to a private life. Maybe she was embarrassed to say how desperate she was to lose weight?


It was bound to come out though Adam - she must have known that. She's quite famous for being fat and she used to say that it didn't bother her, so she must have known that losing all the weight wouldn't escape the attention of a lot of people. It's the downside of being famous I suppose.

[Adam]

She released a statement about it on Saturday because The News of The World were running a story the following day about how she'd had the Gastric op. She was forced to admit it. I think people are making a bigger deal out of it than it actually is.

Everyone knows Amy Winehouse does all the illegal drugs in the world. Do we care? Not really.

Fern Britton admits to having a gastric band fitted to help her lose weight and there's uproar. I have four British tabloids on my desk - and Fern is on the front of two of them.

[Fenella]

She released a statement about it on Saturday because The News of The World were running a story the following day about how she'd had the Gastric op. She was forced to admit it. I think people are making a bigger deal out of it than it actually is.

Everyone knows Amy Winehouse does all the illegal drugs in the world. Do we care? Not really.

Fern Britton admits to having a gastric band fitted to help her lose weight and there's uproar. I have four British tabloids on my desk - and Fern is on the front of two of them.

I agree that it doesn't matter that she had a gastric band - there's no shame in it. What matters is all the women who will have been inspired by her weight loss. She was a bit of an icon to overweight women because she said she didn't mind being fat, so she was a bit of a spokesperson for fat women. Most women don't actually want to be fat though so when she lost weight they probably thought they could do the same thing by diet and exercise but in fact she had a helping hand.

[Fenella]

AND she earned a load of dosh from those ryvita adverts so she did mislead the public there a bit by pretending that she lost weight from normal dieting.

[Dongle]

Jade Baddy was another one. Pretended it was down to her exercise DVDs, but turned out she had £3000 worth of liposuction.

I have a problem with celebrities that lie if people are scammed as a result.

If Fern was endorsng Ryvita as part of her diet plan, with her weight loss as evidence of its effectiveness, then that was morally dubious in my view.

[Adam D]

AND she earned a load of dosh from those ryvita adverts so she did mislead the public there a bit by pretending that she lost weight from normal dieting.
Thats one of my points, i don't think it is fair she does this when its kind of all fake.

[Dongle]

I agree that it doesn't matter that she had a gastric band - there's no shame in it. What matters is all the women who will have been inspired by her weight loss. She was a bit of an icon to overweight women because she said she didn't mind being fat, so she was a bit of a spokesperson for fat women. Most women don't actually want to be fat though so when she lost weight they probably thought they could do the same thing by diet and exercise but in fact she had a helping hand.
Overweight celebs who say that are in denial and they know it.

Aside from Fern, Alison whatshername who was on BB3 and then Celebrity Fit Club, and now is a roving showbiz reporter for GMTV, reportedly also had gastric band surgery. Yet she had also said how she didn't mind and how great it was to be obese.

[Fenella]

Overweight celebs who say that are in denial and they know it.

Aside from Fern, Alison whatshername who was on BB3 and then Celebrity Fit Club, and now is a roving showbiz reporter for GMTV, reportedly also had gastric band surgery. Yet she had also said how she didn't mind and how great it was to be obese.


I agree they're probably in denial, but it's very dishonest to say that if it's not true don't you think? Loads of women are unhappy about their weight in this country, but at least they could say - well look at Fern, she's fat and she's OK with it. Now they find out that she did mind and that she was advertising under false pretences.

[Dongle]

I agree they're probably in denial, but it's very dishonest to say that if it's not true don't you think? Loads of women are unhappy about their weight in this country, but at least they could say - well look at Fern, she's fat and she's OK with it. Now they find out that she did mind and that she was advertising under false pretences.
I agree.

I also think it doesn't do anyone any favours for people like Fern to suggest that it's okay to be obese. It does matter, because of the associated health risks. They should play a part in public health education by saying it's NOT okay, and encourage obese people to take interventional action with dietary and lifestyle behavioural changes.