KATHRYN Thomas has opened up about the brutal bullying she faced as a child in school.
The Q102 radio star sat down with Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty last night to discuss her latest project which puts a magnifying glass on the weight-loss drug, Ozempic.
Kathryn has always shared a passion for helping people look and feel their best, and hosted the hit RTE series Operation Transformation for over four years.
Now, the Carlow native has moved on to front a brand-new two part documentary titled The Skinny Jab Revolution.
Speaking on the new project, the 45-year-old told Kielty: “If you had told me that my next project would be anything to do with weight I would have said you were absolutely cracked.
“I had been reading about these GLP1 medications for the last two years, and a friend of mine who is a doctor, works in Dubai, said, ‘Kathryn, the Middle East is shrinking; everyone is on this medication; it is insane; they are having Ozempic parties’.
“So it was all bubbling and the whole Hollywood thing was kicking off. But I wanted to learn why diet and exercise for some people is not enough.”
Reminiscing on her childhood, the broadcaster got personal when revealing she endured name-calling and shaming due to her weight back in school.
She said: “Well I was quite overweight as a kid, so I remember the name-calling and the stigma and the shame.
“There was one incident that I recall, I was very young and we were in the classroom and the teacher lined all the children up and to help us learn our Irish, he would point at each kid.
“So he would say, ‘Oh, that boy is the fastest boy in the class, that boy is the cleverest boy in the class,’ and then pointed to me and said, ‘Ta Kathryn an cailin is ramhar sa seomara.’”
The term loosely translates to: Kathryn is the fattest girl in the classroom.
Kathryn continued: “I was lucky because I found sport and I lost a lot of weight in my teenage years. But, I know children who went through that classroom under that teacher and the impact that had on them was a life-long impact.”
When asked how she thinks the landscape in Ireland will change now that the Ozempic drug is so widely available, the popular presenter admitted: “It’s just so divisive.”
Kathryn continued: “For people living with obesity, it will change them for the better. These drugs are life changing and people that have struggled now have something that will help them.
KATHRYN’S FEAR
“But there is a lack of regulation; these drugs, used incorrectly, are no better than a yo-yo diet. It’s so dangerous in the wrong hands.”
Kathryn told host Kielty that she had experienced first-hand an improper prescription of Ozempic as she sat at her own kitchen table, went on an Irish website, entered all of her details incorrectly and was still prescribed the weight loss drug.
The Irish star sternly highlighted: “I could be a 15-year-old girl with my mothers credit card and an eating disorder and it’s delivered to the door. This is the danger without the proper regulation in place.”
The release date of Kathryn’s new documentary has yet to be revealed.
