A young woman once dumped by her fiance for being ‘too fat’ has got the ultimate revenge – by being crowned Britain’s most beautiful woman.
Jen Atkin shed eight stone – going from 17st 9lbs to 9st 5lbs in two years – to bag herself the title of Miss Great Britain.
The 26-year-old office administrator’s weight ballooned when she became a self-confessed couch potato and binged on £20 takeaway meals.
But she has had the last laugh after achieving the coveted title on her third and final attempt – she got through to the semi-finals in 2017 and through to the final in 2018.
Jen had retired from pageants after getting married last year but she decided to give it one more shot after having her name put forward to represent Great Britain this year.
She said: “I’m still in shock at winning, I’m so happy I can’t even put it into words – I honestly can’t believe it.
“When I started doing this it was just for a bit of fun, I never imagined how far I would come.
“Winning Miss Great Britain marks the end of a long and difficult, but also amazing, journey.”
Jen added: “Although my body has changed so much I think don’t think my personality has, and I think that’s really helped me.
“The judges were able to see what kind of person I really am.”
When Jen met her ex in March 2011 she weighed in at 14st 7lb as she had become “a weekend recluse” dining on takeaways.
The couple planned to wed in the years that followed – but as she ballooned to over 17st in 2015 her ex-fiance decided to end their relationship.
The beauty queen, who has now married after finding love again, said: “When we broke up, I was devastated but it ended up being the best thing that’s happened to me.”
She says that being dumped spurred her on to slim down from a size 22 to a streamline size 10.
Jen, from Grimsby, North East Lincs., said: “In the week, I would eat huge portions of pasta or pizza then a family-size chocolate bar.
“At weekends, we’d turn into virtual recluses sitting on the sofa in our pyjamas eating takeaways – spending £20 each time.
“The day he left I thought my world had ended – I cried for weeks and used food as my comfort.”
However, Jen signed up to her local gym and has never looked back when she was selected as one of the 10 finalists for in her first pageant – Miss Genting Sheffield in 2017.
Now Jen has won the longest-running pageant in the UK at a glittering national final in Leicester on Friday (21/2)
After being named the 75th Miss Great Britain following a whirlwind couple of years, Jen said: “It was such a shock – three years ago I would never ever expected to be winning Miss GB.”
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