Fat Chance

Julia’s debut show for Radio 4


Have you ever imagined how different life could be, if you looked completely different? Have you thought that if only you were thinner, you’d be happy and your life would be perfect?

Well, Julia Sutherland did.

At thirty two she weighed over sixteen stone – severely obese for her height. Juggling responsibilities as a new wife and mother was hard enough, let alone obesity and disordered eating casting a dark shadow over her whole life. It wasn’t until one grey Saturday morning in Glasgow that she finally forced herself along to a local weight loss class to try and do something about it.

No one was more surprised than she was when it worked. Eighteen months later and over six stone lighter, Julia had the body she always wanted but had never dare dream of. She was on a hotpant high!

But before long, she started to see a side of the world she hadn’t expected and consequences of her transformation that knocked her sideways. It seems that so much of your identity is – sometimes subconsciously – wrapped up in your body image, and when that changes you lose yourself for a while… just as the world starts to treat you very differently too.

This programme features Julia’s stand up about her weight loss, sketches and an exploration of attitudes towards body image, and marks Julia’s debut on BBC Radio 4. Fat Chance was originally broadcast 31/03/2015.

"..If you’re not the fat one anymore, who is… .. am I the fat on now?”Julia Sutherland
BBC Minisite