Leeds man goes from slimmer to supermodel

At the age of 20, Jonny Laidler weighed 20 stones, was dumped by his girlfriend and barely left the house.

Four years later, the sales director from Hunslet, Leeds, has shed seven stones and transformed from a super slimmer to a supermodel.

The 24-year-old beat hundreds of local hopefuls and strutted his stuff in front of 130 people in the Next Top Model Leeds competition, winning a one-year contract with local modelling agency Catwalk Model Management.

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He said: “I never thought I would be doing this. It’s amazing that I won and it’s a great accolade to have.

“I will always be this big, jolly, fat person inside. I just look better on the outside now.

“I don’t think of myself as a good looking person but I have got lots more attention since I lost the weight.

“I used to play computer games a lot rather than doing anything else and spiralled into this really bad habit of not going out.”

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Jonny, who is now single, added: “My girlfriend and I broke up because she was cheating on me and the guy was really skinny.

“When you are 20 stone, all you want to do is get rid of it.

“I started running seven miles a day lost loads of weight really quickly.

“I also started playing rugby and team sports and I’m currently one of the fittest in the Oulton Raiders team, but I do get stick from the rugby guys for modelling.”

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The star-studded Next Top Model Leeds event at The Warehouse nightclub raised £30,000 for Leeds Jewish Welfare Board and was organised by Gaynor Sorkin, co-owner of Offices to Let; Amanda Port, co-director of Micronet Europe; Danielle Buck, co-owner of Daniel Footwear and Belinda Richmond, co-owner of Arrow Cars.

Gaynor said: “I would never have believed in the present climate that we would have raised as much money as we did and for that we have to thank our sponsors, volunteers and the community.”

Anisha Hamilton-Sutton, 22, from Leeds, was crowned winner of the female category.

The judging panel included rugby league star Ellery Hanley and ex-Leeds United footballer Dominic Matteo.

As well as the modelling contract, winners received £500, a place at the London School of Modelling and an appearance on fashion website Style-Me TV.

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