Fat Teens In Love Review

Now I need to start by making an admission- I hate fat people. No sugar coating that one, I can't stand them, I think they're unsightly, lazy and figures to poke fun at. Cruel but fair- If they have a problem with my open mockery/hatred of them they can go LOSE SOME WEIGHT and stop eating ALL OF THE TIME. So a show called "Fat Teens in Love" sounded like the perfect humorous documentary for me and my equally fattist friend to sit and guffaw at. We weren't disappointed, but it wasn't just because of the obvious comedy perks of seeing obese sixteen year olds attempting to star jump, oh no- It was actually an engaging and heart-warming piece that made me, just for a minute, question my prejudice against these chubby cheeked members of society. No mean feat for an ITV show.

The premise was simple- Following a handful of the teenage attendees at a summer weight loss camp in the Lake District and talking to them about their feelings, their self image, and- as the title suggests- their prospects and hopes for finding love. I think it helped that we were eased in gently with Katie, a girl who was on the smaller end of fat, and who was also VERY attractive. For a fat person. Despite her pretty face, Katie had absolutely no self-confidence or self-worth, believing herself to be an "ugly hippo". She was the main focuse throughout the show, alongside Leah- a very sweet middle-eastern girl with a slightly stomach churning story about her excess body hair- and Max, an American boy who really was clinically obese [a quick aside here: Why would an American choose to go to this sort of camp in the Lake District when as far as I was aware there are fat camps on every street in America; Empty ones if the average size of Americans is anything to go by, but plenty to choose from for sure].

The opening activity involved climbing up a giant log and crying once you get to the top and then jumping off. It also involved one of the most comedic and disturbing images I've ever seen, one which is now indelibly burnt onto my brain- A fat person in a harness. More rolls than a bakery doesn't even begin to describe it. Anyway, gang spent 8 weeks doing exercise, going for hikes and eating healthily- oh, and fancying each other. I always find it slightly disconcerting when I see two fat people who are a couple, it's a bit like seeing two ugly people as a couple, I always wonder how they can actually be attracted to each other, but then I remember that it's better for them to be together then to try and take away from the limited numbers of attractive people in the dating pool so I don't question it too much. Anyway, hormones are rife amongst teenagers and each of the group takes a liking to different people with mixed results. By the end of the summer they've lost weight, made friends and gained confidence. Lovely.

The fact is, I found these teens incredibly endearing- they were sweet, funny, self-deprecating and I really wanted them to succeed in their desire to lose weight, and not just because it would make them more aesthetically pleasing. All in all this was a brilliant mixture of comedy and charm. Who would've thunk it?