Episode Two

Former actress Samantha is really excited about her dream wedding to fiancé David. Well, excited about everything except for looking like a beached whale of a bride, that is. Sassy Sam had potential to be a star, but her ambitions for glitz and glamour have been gobbled up by her love of wine and chunks of cheese. Whether it’s dips, slices or on toast, Sam could eat cheese for every meal with cheesy snacks in between, and in recent years she’s ballooned from a petite size 12 to a generous 18.

Competing with Sam for the dress of her dreams is 28-year-old Ngozi from North London, a binge eater who packs away loaves of bread and packets of cookies and who has a monster appetite for red meat. Rather then looking forward to her big day, Ngozi is dreading it. She’s dreading her family seeing how big she’s become, especially compared to her three slim sisters who will be bridesmaids. Not only that, Ngozi uses her 13-month-old son as an excuse for her weight, pretending she’s only just given birth!

Last but by no means least in our race to fit into the lace is Deborah Mosely. Deborah, approaching her big four O as well as her big day, is 5 stone overweight. She is a comfort eater whose sugar cravings really take the biscuit. She loves cakes and even eats them in the middle of the night behind her hubby-to-be’s back. Deborah has opted for a sunshine wedding in Florida, but with her wedding dress fit to burst at the seams, she knows she’ll look more Miami vice than virtue if she doesn’t sort herself out.

In the second episode of Three Fat Brides, One Thin Dress, it's Samantha who shows she has the staying power and wins her perfect wedding dress.

Want to get in shape for your big day? Follow Gillian's meal plan.