JUST two months after mum-of-three Bernadette Carol went under the knife to have a gastric band fitted the row over Fern Britton’s ‘secret’ slimming operation hit the headlines.

For Bernadette, like Fern, the procedure, to restrict the amount of food which can be consumed, was a last resort. And for Bernadette, like Fern, the procedure was something she didn’t want the whole world to know.

“I was embarrassed,” explained the 51-year-old chef from Leamington. “I didn’t tell anyone about the operation for months. It wasn’t the fact that I’d had it done, it was the fear that people would think ‘she’s had to resort to that’.

“People are too quick to jump to conclusions. I think anyone who has been overweight and struggled with diets will understand why I had it done.”

Having battled a weight problem all her life Bernadette had reached her 50th year heavier than ever and hugely depressed.

She’d been anxious about her body since childhood, recalling that she embarked on her first diet when she was 15. It was the 60s and the time of the super-skinny style icon Twiggy and thigh-high skirts. Even back then Bernadette was upset that she couldn’t wear the fashions of the day and feel comfortable. At two stone overweight she felt massive compared to her thinner friends.

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Vita Clinics are a UK based weight loss surgery clinic specialising in gastric band surgery and other procedures.