Bohemia Village Voice

Laura Ripley in April this year.

The Voice recently had a visit from Laura Ripley and her aunt, Salisbury Road resident Anne Williams. Fans of the Jeremy Kyle Show, which appears in ITV’s morning schedule, will no doubt recognise Laura and Anne from the appearance they made on the programme that went out on Thursday 5th April. Laura first approached the show in January of last year. ‘My mum died of obesity on Christmas Eve 2005, and I was just sitting down watching the programme when the number came up. I texted in to them and they called me back. They told me, “We’ll definitely do your story.” It was Heather, the researcher, who called me. I told her my consultant had given me four years to live.’
 Laura says the programme called her again in Sept-ember to tell her they wanted to record her appearance the next day. ‘They paid for a taxi for me and my aunt from Hastings to Manchester. We left here at 6.30 in the evening and got there at 1.30 in the morning. They put us up in the deluxe suite of a lovely hotel. They said we deserved it. Then the next day we did a soundcheck and went on. We were both very, very nervous. Then when Jeremy Kyle mentioned my dream to get into jeans, I cried. It’s something my nan always used to promise she would buy for me.’
CONSULTANT
Laura says the programme has helped her turn her life around, though she’s also reassessed her strategy since she first started. ‘I’ve lost six stone in all since I first got in touch with them. Originally, I wanted to get down to a good weight just through diet and exercise, but over Christmas last year I decided I wanted to have a gastric bypass. The consultant in London said I needed to lose another five stone before that could happen.’
COUNSELLING
The programme have been very supportive of Laura’s battle to lose weight. ‘They’ve paid for two lots of private counselling, and they want me on again later this year, possibly in June or July. I’ve also promised Graham, the show’s psychiatrist, that after my next appearance I’m going to start goin to a gym. My aunt Anne or aunt Julie, or possibly my cousin, will come with me. The TV company have said they’ll pay for those sessions as well.’
CAMPAIGN
Laura says that in addition to the goals she set herself to lose weight, she has also started an obesity campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of being obese. ‘I was in the local paper at the beginning of April, and now Pick Me Up magazine want to cover my story with an article every few months, so I’ll promote my campaign through that.’