'I was 21 stone and had an addiction to food - now I've lost half my weight and am a model and advocate for people with normal bodies'

For Nicola Singleton, food was an “addiction”, something she says helped her to cope with the trauma she’s faced in her life – the death of her children’s father, a serious car crash, and the loss of her own dad.

But in 2021, not long after the birth of her youngest child, she overheard a cruel comment about her weight that prompted a remarkable journey and a gastric bypass that changed her life. The mum-of-five, from Leeds, once weighed 21 stone but shed more than half her body weight in an incredible transformation and now she’s modelling for international magazines.

“I’d always been overweight,” says the 38-year-old. “I was bullied throughout school and faced a lot of nasty comments about it. I’d tried absolutely everything I could to lose weight, but food had been an addiction for me. It’s a comfort.

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"Whenever I went through a bad time, I just wanted to eat - and I’d end up piling on weight. I was at my biggest just after I’d had my youngest son and I overheard someone saying that I was the ‘fattest mum’. It just absolutely broke my heart – and I knew I needed to sort myself out.”

Nicola Singleton says she was previously addicted to food. Photo: Neil Crossplaceholder image
Nicola Singleton says she was previously addicted to food. Photo: Neil Cross

Her journey had already been shaped by years of struggle. In 2014, she was involved in a head-on car crash near Garforth which left her in a wheelchair for nearly five months. “It was pretty brutal,” Nicola recalls. “I was very lucky to be alive.”

She was left with serious injuries, including a crushed foot and hand and her three eldest children had to live with Nicola’s parents because of her lack of mobility, which left her feeling depressed. The aftermath took its toll mentally and physically. Nicola explains: “I couldn’t cook when I came out of hospital, so I was eating takeaways. It was just a really bad time and it made me pile a lot of weight on.”

Nicola eventually underwent gastric bypass surgery at the end of 2021. The weight loss process began slowly, but in early 2022 she started to notice results. By February, she says the weight was just “dropping off”. The impact was life-changing. “It was amazing. I never imagined I’d get the body that I have now.”

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After the car accident, Nicola, who works for Leeds City Council, got a tattoo that says ‘Life is precious’ – and since then, she’s had many more. “I got a sleeve done. Whenever I felt down and depressed, I’d get a new tattoo,” she says. Now she shares her body art on Instagram and says her tattoo artists have played a role in helping her to build a new version of herself.

Nicola’s confidence later took a real turn when she joined a friend doing some modelling work. “I’ve done quite a few shoots since then - and I’ve been in two magazines in America, as well as a magazine in Australia. I was chuffed to bits. My children were so proud of me.”

“I’d love to become an advocate for people with normal bodies - whether that’s people with mum tums, dad bods, or anyone else,” she adds, when asked about future plans for modelling. To be a model, “you can just be a mum of five who has lost weight”.

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