Monica Grenfell: Who do you think you are?!
As most of you know here at 100% People we have been supporting Chloe Marshall, the Miss England entrant for some time now.
She started out as an unknown name with a big message. At size 16 Chloe is the first plus-size Miss England entrant. Not only is she representing her home region of Surrey, but she is representing curvy women everywhere! With so much publicity Chloe has faced mixed reactions to her big is beautiful campaign, although none have stooped to levels as low as Monica Grenfell.
Writing for the Daily Mail today, Monica Grenfell has unleashed a vicious attack on Chloe and her opinions on being a larger lady. As a self-confessed diet ‘expert’ Grenfell has not only called Chloe a liar she has also dubbed the curvaceous beauty ‘fat’ and ‘lazy’!
I quote “Instead of flaunting her figure, Chloe ought to own up to the truth. She is fat and she got that way by over-eating.” Hmm? Right Monica, hold me to this if you must, but I’m pretty certain you don’t know Chloe personally? Have you followed her around? Made a food diary of everything she eats? Calculated the amount of exercise she does? No… I didn’t think so. So first off, we can all agree this debate seems to be Chloe’s word against yours.
However, just how trustworthy is your word Ms Grenfell? From a woman who spends her life preaching that crash-diets without exercise are OK, and that loosing weight by eating mainly yoghurt really can work, she has the cheek to criticise a 17 year old girl’s health because she is the ‘average’ size of a British woman! Not only that but may I also quote from Grenfell’s own website dedicated to teenage girls, www.monicagrenfell.co.uk/teens/teens.html, and I assume these are her own words “Personally, I don’t think weight is the big thing to get obsessed over.” Shouting from both sides of the fence it seems.
Monica continues by actually advising teenagers to look on the back of packets of food to find out how many calories each product contains. She justifies this as Ok by stating this is what she and all her friends do! Grenfell goes on to advise girls who don’t like salad to eat it because it’s stylish and will give them a flat stomach! This is just perfect! If Monica Grenfell does it and its ’stylish’ then lets get all our kids doing it! I mean it’s not like teenage girls already have enough to worry about with boys, school and playing Miss Bimbo! Oh don’t get me started again!
Grenfell has attacked Chloe’s weight referring to her as an obese poster-girl. Chloe’s BMI of just over 26 is actually classed as slightly overweight, not obese. Health experts say as long as someone with a BMI of over 25 is physically active; there is no reason as to why they are at high risk of developing health problems. Chloe has already spoken about her healthy and active lifestyle to the Daily Mail, she said “I eat well, I exercise regularly – I jog, swim, and work out with weights.” Seems pretty active to me.
Grenfell goes on to state “Chloe is a stark reminder that obesity is now virtually normal in our society”, what she fails to mention is why this could seem so shocking. Maybe because for decades magazines and catwalks have been littered with skinny girls flaunting flesh and bones in tiny outfits. There has been no parallel, until now!
We all come in different shapes and sizes. The Miss England and Miss World competitions have, for years, had the stereotype of producing clones. By choosing Chloe Marshall to represent her region, Miss England have broken the mould! We should be congratulating them, not deeming them irresponsible for choosing, shock horror, a girl who loves her body for what it is, not for how it could look after religiously following one of Monica Grenfell’s sickening crash-diets!
Read Monica Grenfell’s full article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=554870&in_page_id=1879
See Chloe and the other contestants here: http://www.missengland.info/
April 4th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Thanks for this article – I think a strong defence not only of Chloe, but of people’s right to love themselves the way they are, rather than the way the financially-motivated Grenfells of this world want us to be, is sorely needed.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Monica makes a complete idiot of herself in this article.
First she claims Chloe is 12 stones and 8 pounds, and is five foot ten. But she claims this makes her a stone overweight, ang ives her a BMI of 26.03, and that her ideal BMI is 20. What a load of rubbish, is the weight and height are corecy then Chloe has a BMI of 25.5 and is only hald a stone overweight. And the ideal BMI is 20-25 so if Chloe had a BMI of 20 she would look skelatol. She also states that last years contestants were good not just for their beauty, but also for their good works and then goes on to rant about how Chloe is just fat and lazy even though she claims she exercises and eats healthy foods. What a hypocrite, apparently unless you are stick thin (which people with a BMI are) you are lazy, and your work does not count! She also claims that Britain doe snot have an eating disorder because she sees “muffin tops”. Yet she forgets that bullemics are actually a bit overweight and eating disorders and obesity go hand in hand. But most dangerous of all she has gone into a national newspaper and told teenage girls that it does not matter if you work hard and eat healthy food, and are a nice person because if you are just a few pounds overweight you are fat, lasy, greedy, and not trustworthy (she says chloe is lying)and not worthy to represent ones country. This from the woman who helped to choose that Llyod girl as Miss England! Yes much better to have a perma-tanned racist bully, with not an ounce of intelligence or class, and whom sleeps with the judges (and is not actually very pretty, certainly not a beauty like Chloe), than someone who is seven pounds overweight
April 4th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Soory for the typos that should read “as people with a BMI of 20 are”
April 7th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Hi
I am Monica Grenfell and I wrote that article.
I don’t just think I am a diet expert and nutritionist, I am one. Please do not try and take me up on that one.
I am also a mother and grandmother.
The weight issue apart, (and one can hardly leave it, but I think it is flogged to death by now) how about the other poor girls in the Miss England contest? The ones who do not have the benefit of acres of newsprint dedicated to them?
Chloe Marshall now has a distinct advantage, in that she is already famous for her body. I see no other reason for her to be any better than the others, who have all done, I daresay, as many good works and have as many other abilities as Chloe.
If size really doesn’t matter, why is she mentioning it at all? Wnhy not just enter the pageant and be done with it? Those other young women contestants can barely get a mention in their local paper, and now Miss Marshall has made herself famous for one thing: her body.
And if size really is irrelevant, why call the other contestants, whom she has not met, ’skinny minnies’? Why would a size zero matter and a size 16 not matter? If anyone can explain this to me, I would love to hear it. Both are unhealthy.
Miss Marshall will probably win the contest, and for thr worst reasons – everybody already knows her. Or knows what she weighs and her dress size.
Is this a level playing field for those other contestants?
April 7th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
[...] you read my previous blog entry reporting on Monica Grenfell’s
April 9th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Thank you! Thank you! I was disgusted at the vile comments Monica Grenfell made about Chloe.
Even more disgusted that the comments were made by a woman who was preaching about how obesity is bad and unhealthy, but also the same women who writes ‘Lose 7lb’s in 7 days’ whats that Grenfell?? Crash dieting? Healthy? This lady is a joke! But to be fair it was published in the Daily Mail, what do we expect!
I wander how she feels knowing that her article will be down the chippy wrapping up the next ‘obese’ ‘unhealthy’ ‘unfit’ ‘lazy’ persons calorific Friday night tea!
How ironic! lol
April 14th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Its really, really really REALLY sad. I have known skinny, “healthy looking” people with bulimia, anorexia and the overwhelming urge to work out like crazy for every bite of food. There are models, beauty contestants, and other “healthy looking” people with tons of issues MENTAL and PHYSICAL that are NOT healthy. How dare they attack this beautiful, confident woman for not HATING herself? This is ridiculous. They say she shouldn’t be a role model… so who should? The coke-head models? The cigarette smoking beauty contestants? The binge-drinking, skinny women? Women who obsess about what they EAT, and are more obsessed with dieting and exercise than being a truly healthy WELL-ROUNDED individual? She is a role model, because she lives her life living up to her own standards, proudly, without self hatred, or low self esteem! There are many ways to be unhealthy than to be “fat.”
April 15th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Chloe is one of many beautiful girls who have been brave enough to enter the competition. Many girls find the word fat nasty and offensive and many girls find the word skinny nasty and offensive. As all the girls are beautiful then if I were a Judge I would concentrate on many other things such as who would I think most deserves to hold the title and who I think would behave in a ladylike diplomatic unoffensive way, who would be a good role model and stand a chance of then becoming Miss World. If Chloe doesnt win this year then maybe she will win when she is older and only time will tell and she has years of chances ahead.
I know Miss Wiltshire, Fadwa, very well and she has been unselfishly helping world wide and local charities for years, has unselfishly been helping her family, is not a materialist, is a university student and very importantly she never makes offensive comments, she is mature, experienced, a non smoker, pure, honest, punctual, a good team worker and I know she is genuine in wanting to make the world a better place. She is also curvy and the Judges have marked her very highly. I do not think the competition is a forgone conclusion at all and I think the Judges will be very impressed with a lot of the girls. I hope the final will be a very happy time for them all and that many will try again if not successful this year and that many more girls of different shapes and sizes will apply next year IF they are nice unoffensive people who can truly be a good example of goodness, kindness and diplomacy as well as being beautiful and confident. Good luck and God bless them all.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I swear that a size 16 is NOT BIG so that Monica person had made me very mad!
She doesn’t know what beauty is and is probably an skinny stick herself.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Things are getting very much out of hand. Monica Grenfell is a dietician and its not surprising she or for another example a Doctor may suggest a young or old person tries to be slim and its harder to lose weight as you get older. Its not nice for someone giving a professional opinion to be mentally crucified for writing what they believe to be sensible, and both in the health interest of the young lady in question and the many other millions of our world. Monica is not a cruel person but a kind person. She is entitled to her opinion in the same way others are. Some girls are offended by being called skinny and cant help having smaller breasts either very often.
From the point of view of the competition itself all the finalists are beautiful but too much emphasis is being put on one thing and that is whether they are a size 8 or 16. We want to see more publicity given to all the other girls as well as Chloe. We want the winner to be someone who sets a good example to others, is genuinely kind, mature, responsible, diplomatic, intelligent etc’….
We hope the Judges will choose goodness, humility, good example and good character as well as confidence, media fame and beauty. Lets hope those who dont win this year will whenever possible come back next year with more experience. We feel sorry for those who didnt even make the finals.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Monica Grenfell di NOT choose Danielle Lloyd to be Miss England, stupid. That was the year before. Monica was a judge in 2007. She is also not a skinny stick, you bullying load of morons- Monica is mother to two adult sons and a nice size 8, 32D, 24, 36
May 18th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Monica Grenfell’s article was one of the most disgusting, disturbing, and dangerous articles I’ve ever read. Key MONICA GRENFELL into your search engine and all you will find is how to buy, Buy, BUY her merchandise. The smile on Chloe’s face is a threat to Grenfell’s money grubbing empire, and of course Grenfell would like nothing better than to take that smile away……a supposedly responsible adult attacking a teen age girl about her weight, calling her obese…….sorry Monica, behaviour like that is nothing but pond scum. If levels of bulimia are falling, it’s probably because young women like Chloe have started waking up to what’s going on here, and are not allowing themselves to be bullied and pigeon holed by elitist barbie dolls and self satisfied fashion gurus, whose bottom line is nothing more than the dollar bill. Take a look at any fashion show, and you’ll see a long line of women who resemble starving third world refugees……come on, most look like very tall MALE jockeys, not like women, just things to hang clothes from. One reason teen suicide is so high is because it’s impossible for ANYONE to jump through all the hoops that an already sick society holds up, let alone young kids……Chloe is saying you can be who you are, and be happy……..Monica Grenfell and those like her are saying that you can only be happy if you fit into the world they and their plastic hollywood fashion industry media grubs have created. I’d advise Monica Grenfell to start the day with a bowl of porridge, instead of the lemons that she’s obviously been sucking on. I hope Chloe never lets any of these horrible, reprehensible, unbalanced creatures ever stop her from achieving her goals in life, with their “fat people are only here to make fun of” mantra. Go and count your money, Monica, and leave real people alone.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Monica is clearly a dietrian so she is only stating what is fact, Miss Surrey is over weight FACT, and this is alarming because she is only 17, imaging what she is going to be like in a few years, maybe if Miss Surrey wasnt promoting herself only for being a size 16 then she would not have recieved this back lash, If you ask me Miss Surrey deserved it, she claims she is CURVY ??? what curves ?? Over weight and podgy, ok this might sound harsh but ashes exploiting the fact that she is a larger lady, encouraging people especially young girls thats its ok to be big,
some people cant help it if they are bigger but there are health implications to it regardless to what chloe says,Also there are alot better looking size 16`s out there
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Monica Grenfell is a narrow-minded twit. So, she’s a “dietician,” is she? No true dietician would promote the kind of unhealthy crash dieting as she. That’s just to sell publications and products to those who will fall for the notion that only the thin deserve happiness. The weight-loss industry rakes in billions by preying on weakness and anxiety. And Chloe Marshall is using her size to promote herself and garner publicity? Ms. Grenfell only helps fuel that fire. Thank you. I hope Ms. Marshall wins the entire thing!
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I’m fed up with (fat?) people slating Monica Grenfell – she is a qualified nutritionist, not a ‘narrow-minded twit’ and is quite right in stating that Chloe is overweight. She looks more than a size 16 in her bikini and can’t possibly eat as healthily or exercise as much as she says or she would be slim! I’m guessing that the people who are slagging off Monica’s books haven’t read them – if they had then they would realise that the diets are nutritionally sound and healthy. Monica advocates cooking healthy home made meals like cottage pie and eating sensible portions. Crash diet is great for the number of days it’s meant for and again, the nutritional content is spot on, nobody will starve! Maybe it’s not entirely Chloe’s fault that she’s overweight but she shouldn’t be giving out the message that fat is beautiful – and it really gets on my nerves that people like Chloe and people who have posted comments about Monica’s article, can’t understand that it’s not how you look that matters but what’s going on inside. It is bad to be overweight – overweight means health problems. Ask your doctor! I don’t believe anyone who is overweight is genuinely happy about it and I bet those who have attacked Monica’s article here are overweight and can’t stick to a diet! I was only a stone overweight, a size 14 and I felt dreadful, I don’t mean just mean how I looked but how I felt. I lost that stone and keeping a rough count of the calories I consume daily has really helped me keep it off. I’m not obsessive but it’s made me realise that to put on weight you have to eating an awful lot of food! When Sophie Dahl lost weight she was berated by the ‘fatties’ who said she had ‘let them down’ – how ridiculous and selfish, Sophie is now a healthier person. Nutritionists, whether they make money for books or not, are genuinely concerned about the eating habits of the population. I’m not a nutritionist but it drives me mad to see an overweight child with it’s mother filling up a trolley with crap in the supermarket! It’s not that difficult to get and stay slim especially with the help of someone like Monica Grenfell – if you actually take the time to read one of her books you will realise that they are full of great helpful tips and sensible information. I’m pleased Chloe didn’t win – it would have been thanks to the publicity about her weight. She’s very pretty but Laura is a beautiful girl, a dancer with great posture and poise. More than half the finalists had more interesting features and profiles than Chloe! But good luck to her in her plus size modelling!
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Tracey said:
“She shouldn’t be giving out the message that fat is beautiful”
I’m sorry but I can hardly believe there are still idiots out there, in this day and age who honestly believe fat people can’t be beautiful!
Fat people are still humans being you ignorant pig! Have you never heard the term beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder!
It’s people like you Tracey who have our young girls throwing up after meals and popping diet pills to squeeze into some trashy size 0 dress!
People as narrow-minded as you should keep your opinoins to yourself until you open your eyes and take a real look at the world around you!!
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
If you read my comment properly you will see that I am trying to get the point across that being fat or thin isn’t about being beautiful or not – it’s about being fit and healthy. I wouldn’t dream of popping pills myself and I certainly could make myself throw up. Therefore I wouldn’t advocate it to others. You are obviously overweight yourself and a little bit thick – I’m not saying fat people can’t be beautiful – but that Chloe shouldn’t be saying that it’ ‘ok to be fat’ because it’s not. Go and ask your doctor what being a stone overweight does to your body, heart, joints etc – go on I dare you and maybe you and other fat overweight people will stop being so ignorant to the facts of ‘fat’!!!!
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I meant COULDN’T make myself throw up! I hate being sick!
July 31st, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Why are people slagging off Monica so bad? She didn’t ‘attack’ Chloe, she is just pointing out the bleedin’ obvious – that being fat is unhealthy and detrimental to your health. Of course Chloe must over-eat, that is why she is overweight. People in Ethiopia don’t over-eat, and I’m sure some of them carry the ‘fat gene’, but I don’t see any overwieght Ethiopians, do you? And it is a scientific fact that eating low fat dairy containing calcium does help speed up weight loss, so Monica isn’t talking rubbish, look it up on the net. And girls who are anorexic or bullemic are very rarely that way because of pressure to look thin, it is because of a deep rooted psychological proble, they think they are in ‘control’ of their life if they are in ‘control of their weight’ I have known many anorexics and they sheepishly admit it’s about control, not media pressure to look thin etc. No one is saying you can’t be both very overweight and beautiful, Chloe IS a very pretty and attractive young girl. But saying it’s OK to be fat, and put yourself at risk of diabetes, heart disease, etc is OK. Hello? What excuse will Chloe have if/when she becomes a mother, and her health becomes so bad her kids have to watch her suffer in pain, all because she eats too much? We scold smokers who put their health at risk like this but it’s OK if you’re fat? I’m no skinny minnie, I’m a size 14/16 on a 4′11′ frame and I look overweight, not as overweight as Chloe but I am overweight. I went on one of Monica Grenfell’s diets, and I lost a stone and I felt great. Her diets are not at all dangerous, even her crash diets. They are very nutritious and packed full of vitamins and all healthy stuff you need. After trying one of her diets, I had bags more energy and looked so much healthier, everyone commented and said so. But alas, my willpowered failed me and I put it back on after going back to fatty food. But am currently trying again. Has anyone ever actually read one of her books? They are very inspiring, and they tell you the truth. It’s tough love but at least she is truthfull. All Monica is saying that it is not a good idea to advocate being overweight. I know us womem are under enough pressure as it is, with how to look this way and how to look that way. I know it’s crap. But our bodies weren’t designed to be so overweight. Nor are they designed to be a shocking size 0 or UK 2/4. But how many slim healthy people do you know, suffer from diabetes, or heart disease, or have heart attacks? How many slim people do you know suffer from body odour, bad circulation, high blood pressure, Osteoarthritis or gallstones? I doubt that many. If you want to slag Monica off, at least read one of her books first. I promise you, they aren’t all psycho babble, and they don’t make you feel bad for being overweight. They just tell you like it is AND they make you feel positive about wanting to change your life and be a fitter healthier person. Monica’s dad died at a young age because he had a bad diet, he ate too much protein, yes protein, it wasn’t even from carbs. It upset her so much it inspired her to become a nutritionist and help make sure this sort of thing didn’t happen to other people. She is trying to educate us.
I work in retail and I will tell you what i see every day. Kids coming into my shop with their parents, they mis-behave. The parents (mainly mums) tried to get them to behave. they fail. So they bribe them with a Macdonalds, or sweets to get them to shut up! Oh my god! So the way you get your kids to behave is by bribing them with fatty food full of sugar and crap! No oneder so many kids are overweight these days, never mind teenage gilrs. If kids are brought up like this, what hope do they have when getting older? So you won’t mind if your daughter gets stretch marks, variscose veins, thread veins, cellulite. You actively encourage that by offering cake, sweets and processed food? What happens the day she looks in the mirror and sees all these marks on her body, and realises she could have prevented this just simply by eating a healthy diet? I wish Monica had been around when I was a teenager, my body wouldn’t be in the state it is in now.
I wonder if in a few years time, when she realises the damage she had done to the INSIDE of her body, Chloe will feel differently?
August 26th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
This is STUPID! I don’t agree with what Grenfell is saying.
I don’t think that Chloe Marshall is trying to say that it’s okay to be obese and encouraging people to be fat. i think what’s she trying to say that it’s okay not to be thin and that plus-sized people need not be depressed and hate themselves just because they are not what society expects them to be.
And people, please go do your research. Fat does not equal unhealthy. No exercise DOES equal unhealthy though, your health isn’t dependent on whether you’re fat or thin. Fat people who do regular exercise may be healthier than slim people who never exercise.
Besides, both muscle and fats both count in your BMI. Considering that muscle has a higher density than fats, it is very possible to have a high BMI just because you have a lot of muscles instead of fats. So BMI isn’t exactly the best gauge as to see a person’s health.
And just for credibility sake, I am NOT a skinny mimmy NOR an overweight podgy person. I am 1.67 metres and 55 kilograms, which makes my BMI 19.5, making it of acceptable weight for my height. I eat regularly(with the occasional feasting), exercise regularly. So please DO NOT say that I am presenting a biased view in order to console myself or whatever stupidity.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:51 am
I think both Monica and Chloe are right.
Yes, Monica is right because as much as we hate to admit it and eat and do whatever we want, you need to be healthy and thus be below a certain BMI for health purposes. Who wouldn’t want to be a size 10-12 if no effort was required?
But at the same time, even if you are not within the guidelines, you need to accept yourself for who and what you are.
I personally accept that i am overweight. I am chloe’s size, i went through a period where i was depressed, nothing fitted right, my confidence was low and i found it hard shopping. But at the same time i had to go through the process of accepting and loving myself for who and what i am, which meant presenting myself in the best way possible for me but at the same time i started eating healthily and funny enough i am doing Monica’s exercises, they are fantastic. I feel that my BMI does matter because of the potential illness that being overweight can attract.
I think we all need a balance of both. It is important to accept ourselves but at the same time try to better ourselves!!!
May 7th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
This girl is fat, there is no doubt about that and there are no excuses for it.
Being overweight costs the NHS so much money, money that could be spent on people with problems they can’t cure just by scoffing down a salad or going for a jog, this “model” is disgusting. End of.
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