Personal trainer who refuses to employ fat people gets death threats

A personal trainer says she has been subjected to death threats after sparking fury by refusing to work with fat people.

Samantha Yardley aired her opinions on This Morning, telling hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford she would judge a potential employee by their size.

Samantha caused outrage after suggesting obese people were more likely to be ‘lethargic or lazy’.

And she accused them of failing to take responsibility for their health.

But her appearance on the ITV daytime programme on July 22 triggered a huge backlash.

Now the fitness writer and blogger claims she has been targeted by trolls and branded ‘Ursula the Sea Witch’, the villain from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, among other insults.

‘The darker side of my recent abuse ranged from death threats and pleads for me to kill myself and peaked at the forewarning of my imminent rape,” she wrote on her blog.

‘How many babies did I throw on the barbecue I hear you ask? Well… actually, I committed a far worse crime in the eyes of a significant proportion of society; I brought up the O word… not that one; but obesity.’

Samantha revealed how one person had wished her a ‘slow and painful death’.

At the time the show was aired, she was branded ‘disgusting’ and ‘vile’ by astonished viewers who insisted ‘being slim is not always healthy’.

But she continues to stand by her remarks, the Coventry Telegraph reports.

Samantha said: ‘Hurt feelings and the nuances of weight stigma aside; the very real danger of being extremely obese remains.

‘Health markers associated with carrying excessive weight are grave and despite lowering life expectancy, as a nation we continue to see our waistlines expand.’

She claims to ‘wholeheatedly support’ the body positive movement – but insisted ‘poor health’ should not be ‘glamourised’.

Samantha added: ‘Big is beautiful, we should all feel confident in our bodies and skinny is not a body type we should aspire to achieve.

‘But…at what point does its message become dangerous by providing justification for a state of being that is inherently harmful.

‘Let’s focus on diverting that energy to providing tangible change, helping to support obese people on their journey to better health.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.