Vanessa Feltz reveals 'embarrassment' of not fitting into 'skimpy' photoshoot outfits
Vanessa Feltz has said she relates to 'Gavin and Stacey' star Ruth Jones' revelation about not being able to fit in clothes when doing photoshoots.
Vanessa Feltz says the humiliation of not fitting into "skimpy outfits” in front of stylists and make-up artists "brings a blush to your cheeks years later".
The 63-year-old broadcaster relates to BBC sitcom 'Gavin and Stacey' star Ruth Jones's revelation that she "felt so self-conscious" when she started doing photoshoots "about 20 years ago" when she was "probably a size 20" and that on one shoot, the stylist "only got size 16 clothes that didn't fit me".
And Vanessa remembers "sailing merrily" into "several studios" and had to "shrivel inwardly when I couldn't squeeze into a single one" of the small outfits when she was "over size 16".
The star - who told Best magazine recently that she is now a size 12 - wrote in her column for the Daily Express newspaper on Wednesday (30.04.25): "How I identify with 'Gavin and Stacey's Ruth Jones, and her rueful recollections of feeling self-conscious when photoshoots failed to provide clothes in the right size.
"I remember sailing merrily into several studios, only to shrivel inwardly when I couldn't squeeze into a single one of the skimpy outfits on the rack."
Vanessa - who hosts an eponymous lunchtime talk show on 5 - said the "punishment" for "the crime of being over size 16" is "nasty enough" when in a changing room alone, but is made even worse when it is in front of stylists, make-up artists and photographers.
She continued: "Punishment for the 'crime' of being over size 16 is nasty enough on your own in a store changing room.
"In front of a stylist, make up-artist and photographer, it's a humiliation that still brings a blush to your cheeks years later."
Ruth, who starred in the ITV comedy 'Fat Friends' from 2000 until 2005, opened up about her embarrassing ordeal in an interview with Women and Home magazine, and she also shared that walking down a street is something she takes for granted.
The 58-year-old star - who stunned fans after her 4.5 stone weight loss revelation in 2011 - said: "I was probably a size 20, and on one shoot, the stylist only got size 16 clothes that didn’t fit me.
"I think there was that mentality of, 'A size 16 is large, so that will be fine.'
"I don’t particularly practise gratitude, but often I get a wake-up call where I’ll go, 'Thank goodness I can still do this.'
"At the moment I’m suffering with my knees, and I hadn’t realised how much I take being able to walk down the street for granted."
