The 18-30 Stone Holiday sees eight British people head to a new resort especially for larger people.
For the estimated 12 million obese people living in the UK, just leaving the house can be terrifying, and some avoid being seen for fear of fat shaming. For most people, wearing a swimming costume on the beach can be nerve-wracking, but when you’re obese, it can be traumatising.
With one fifth of the world’s population expected to be obese in the next decade, there’s now a market for plus-size friendly holidays. Hidden away on an island in the heart of the Caribbean is the world’s only hotel that’s been exclusively built for plus-sized people: on the island of Eleuthera lies The Resort.
It may look like any normal hotel, but this is the only resort in the world that is custom built for people over 30 stone. All the rooms have been altered to suit the fuller figure: each chair is almost a metre wide and can withstand more than 40 stone of sunbather, doorways have been widened, and all the bed frames have been reinforced with two-inch steel bars.
Here guests can eat what they like from a buffet open three times a day serving Caribbean or comfort food.
There is also a specially designed programme of activities that will force the guests to re-evaluate their bodies, and group therapy is encouraged.
Resort owner, James, says: “It’s a sanctuary. It’s a place where you can come and have a good holiday without any judgement whatsoever.”
Now a group of Brits who hate their bodies are heading to this plus-sized paradise to experience a radical new approach to confronting the prejudice they often encounter because of their size. They’ll be challenged to face their innermost fears, and inspired to find a new confidence to overcome their inhibitions, in a week that could transform their lives.
The eight people are:
Adam, 32, and his wife Ami, 28, from Stoke-on-Trent, weigh 22-stone and 24-stone respectively. Going to The Resort is their chance for a second honeymoon.
Steven, 23, from Fife, weighs 37-stone. Despite his larger than life personality, call centre worker Steven rarely leaves his hometown and this is the first ever time he has set foot a plane.
At 6’2” and weighing 36-stone, 31-year-old Alice’s chronic anxiety about her size often means she’s a prisoner in her own home.
Dane, 27, weighs 31-stone, and after his parents divorced when he was 10-years-old he has turned to food as an emotional crutch.
David, 28, weighs 18-stone, and is only just finding his feet in the plus sized world.
Sandra, weighs 22½-stone, and says: “This is the biggest I’ve been in my life.”
Holly, 27, 20½-stone, is a plus-size model.
