Hartlepool grandmother who weighed 32st opens up about undergoing gastric bypass surgery on TV show ‘Shut Ins: Britain's Fattest People'

Samantha Usher, 36, has transformed her life after shedding an incredible 13 stone following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, which has reduced her stomach to just the size of an egg in order to help her lose weight.

The mum-of-three has spent years struggling with her disordered eating, turning to food as a source of comfort during periods of poor mental health.

At her heaviest, Samantha was 32st and a size 32 to 34. She said her eating was ‘out of control’ and became a ‘mental illness’ that would see her spend all day grazing on unhealthy snacks and meals.

Confined to her home, Samantha relied on husband Keith Usher, 46, to carry out domestic chores and provide personal care for her.

She said: "I had a bad past and instead of dealing with the issues when they came, I pushed it to the back of my mind and did not deal with it.

“So whenever I was stressed or overwhelmed in a situation, food became a friend to me. It was a friend that didn’t call me names or judge me.

"The more my health deteriorated, the more food became a comfort.”

But Samantha was thrown a lifeline when she was contacted out of the blue by Blink Films, who offered her the chance to appear in Channel 4 show ‘Shut Ins: Britain's Fattest People.’

Filmed over the course of a year-and-a-half, Samantha’s weight loss journey began in June 2018 with psychology sessions and instructions to lose 5kg in weight.

Just months later, on December 18, Samantha underwent life-changing bariatric surgery at The Priory Hospital in Birmingham.

Founteen months on from the surgery, Samantha has lost an incredible 13st and now weighs 18st 1lb and is a size 18 to 20.

She said: "People realised that I needed help and I am so pleased that I got this opportunity when I did because I would have been dead otherwise.

“Surgeons have told me that in the past. It was just too much for my body.”

Samantha, who is grandmother to Thomas, 11 months, shared how she suffers from a condition called intracranial hypertension, linked to her weight, which can leave her in bed for days at a time and could even result in her going blind.

"The more I lose weight, the better it gets but, unfortunately, it is still there and I just hope that I haven’t done too much damage whilst I was big,” she said,

"It’s a condition I don’t wish upon my worst enemy – it’s horrific. To sit there and be going blind, it’s awful and you don’t have a life.

"It was a kick to stomach when they said my weight was a part of it.

"Before, whenever my weight was mentioned, I would just cry and cry because I knew that I was out of control.”

She added: "I have always been open and honest. I was the one who did the damage.

“The surgery was a last chance saloon.”

Samantha said she has had ‘wonderful feedback’ since being on the show, but said she has also experienced hurtful negative comments and says people will always 'judge’ larger people.

“Everyone is going to have their own opinions but I am not going to lie and say it didn’t hurt at the beginning,” she said.

"But unless someone has lived my life then they don’t know my struggles – not just physically but mentally, too.”

Samantha said her husband also experienced some negative backlash following the show and stressed that he was ‘not a feeder.’

Now she hopes to help other people going through similar struggles with disordered eating by setting up a support group.

"I just want to be able to help other people. That is one thing I am determined to do,” she said.

"I have had so many messages from people saying I am brave for speaking up and I am just glad to help other people.”

Looking to the future, Samantha says she will need to undergo further surgery to remove excess skin after shedding the weight.

She also hopes to lose lose more weight and plans to continue exercising to tone up through the gym, walking and swimming.

Praising husband, Keith, and mam, Julie Bartlett, for their support throughout her journey, Samantha said she is now learning how to be happy with herself.

She said: "I'm starting to learn to love me after being so large for so long.”

Shut-ins: Britain’s Fattest People is available to watch on All4.

Diet after:

Breakfast: Weetabix.

Lunch: Salad or soup.

Dinner: Chicken and vegetables.

Diet before:

Breakfast: Nothing.

Lunch: Sandwiches and crisps.

Snacks: Graze on high calorie, unhealthy snacks throughout the day.

Dinner: Takeaways.

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