Features / television
Bristol mum is part of a new body positive show
The UK has some of the lowest body image scored in the world, and over a third of people are unhappy with their looks. A new show called Naked Beach, starting on Thursday, April 11 on Channel 4, improve these statistics and mum blogger Molly Forbes, from Bristol, has been announced as a participant on the programme.
In each episode of the new show, three ‘guests’ with critically low body image jet off to a sunny Greek retreat to live with a group of unclothed, body confident ‘hosts’ who have little more than elaborate body paint to cover their modesty.
Naked Beach is based on research by Dr Keon West which shows that spending time with naked bodies of all shapes and sizes, rather than picture-perfect ones, can improve body image and self-esteem.
is needed now More than ever
The end goal each episode is for the guests to get naked with the hosts and bare all on the Naked Beach.
Molly Forbes, who grew up in Bishopton and now lives in Newton Abbot, was invited to take part in the show after creating a spoof ‘how to get bikini ready’ video in 2018.
The only mum on the programme, Molly admits she wasn’t always so body positive, saying: “I’d starve myself to get ‘bikini ready’ for a holiday and then starve myself afterwards to punish myself for all the stuff I’d eaten and drunk on holiday.
“Every January would be spent counting calories or starting some new scary fitness regime.”
It was after her six-year-old daughter asked why she was weighing out spinach, that she realised she had to change her outlook towards her body: “I started a real journey of self-acceptance,” she says, “learning to see my worth for all the things I am instead of my body.
“At the beginning it was simple things, like diversifying my Instagram feed, finding new accounts to follow online, unfollowing anything that talked about dieting or ‘perfect bodies’”.
From those early first steps Molly took towards loving her body, she started projecting her voice to help others. She regularly organises events to empower women and runs the blog Mother’s Always Right, which regularly reflects on attitudes towards body image. She is also co-host of podcast called Body Cons with fellow Bristol mum Lottie Storey, encouraging body positivity through creating open conversation around body image and speaking about topics with experts in related fields.
Bristol mum blogger Molly Forbes is one of the ‘hosts’ on Naked Beach, encouraging others to feel better about their body
For body positive warrior Molly, Naked Beach seems a natural next step to help even more people accept and love their body.
Naked Beach airs at 9pm on Thursday, April 11 on Channel 4.
Read more: Bristol journalists launch body-positive podcast
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