OVER the years mum-of-two Danielle Mason has perfected the art of looking good in a photograph.
She stands up straight, pulls in her stomach and smiles brightly, before making sure the camera will catch her at the most flattering angle possible.
But on rare occasions she’s done exactly the opposite, pushing out her stomach as far as it will go, slumping and ensuring the lighting will reflect off her bulges.
Why? It’s all in the name of fooling private online doctors to think she’s obese and qualifies for £150 weight loss injections.
It’s worked twice and Danielle feels no guilt in lying to doctors to get the drugs she craves – she also adds more than a stone to her weight to put her in the obese category.
Danielle, 41, who starred in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and whose sister Jessie Wallace plays Kat Slater in EastEnders, exclusively admits to Fabulous: “My life is ruled by the scales – I long to be thin but my weight has yo-yoed for years.
“I love junk food and ironically when I’m happy and in a settled relationship I always balloon.
“I’ve been with my fiancé Lee Dopson for 18 months now and other than my weight I couldn’t be happier.
“But I find it so hard to diet and slimming jabs seemed to be the answer to my problems – but I knew from reading articles that I wouldn’t qualify using my true weight.
“Losing weight on them is easy as I become indifferent to food. I never usually lie, I’m always very honest, but I was desperate.
“I know I shouldn’t lie but I thought the end justified the means. And loads of my friends do it too or use the black market.”
She adds: “I read about Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace suffering too, which sounded terrifying.
“And I’ve got a friend who works in the ambulance service who’s been called out six times in the last week for people suffering on weight loss jabs, even when they got them legitimately.”
‘I thought I was going to die’
Danielle’s lies have come at a price.
She successfully began taking the jabs in May last year, using the injections for three months.
But when she started using them for a second time in November, she suffered a terrible reaction to the medication.
“For the last month, since I upped my dose according to my prescription, I’ve been constantly sick and had diarrhoea,” says Danielle, who lives in Bracknell, Berks.
“But worse than that was my mental health, I got terrible anxiety and panic attacks.
I’ve learnt from my mistake. I lost over a stone in eight weeks but I felt terrible. It wasn’t worth it.
Danielle Mason
“There was one day at the beginning of January when I was lying on the bathroom floor about to call an ambulance because I felt so ill.
“I was sweating and tingling all over and felt so dreadful I thought I was going to die.
“In the end my normal, NHS doctor had to prescribe me beta blockers. I’ve now stopped and a week out I feel so much better.
“I’ve learnt from my mistake. I lost over a stone in eight weeks but I felt terrible. It wasn’t worth it.”
‘I loved being thin’
Danielle first successfully fooled the doctors at the end of May last year and went on Mounjaro for three months – a weight loss jab only available on prescription, similar to Ozempic, prescribed for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
At the time she weighed around 12st 7lbs and, at 5ft 7in, her BMI was overweight but not obese.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved Mounjaro to treat patients with a BMI of 30 or more, unless they have other obesity-related health conditions.
So she lied and added more than a stone to her weight so she could qualify and sent over the unflattering pictures to ‘prove’ she needed it.
Danielle says: “That first time the weight fell off me and I felt great. I didn’t fancy my usual junk food I can have five bars of chocolate in one go on a ‘bad’ day.
“I stayed on it for three months until September and got down to 11st.
“I loved being thin and didn’t have any ill effects bar a bit of nausea.
“But as soon as I stopped I started piling on the weight again and by November I was back where I started.
“So I decided to try again. That’s the problem – in my mind it was easy to get and a quick fix solution, so I didn’t bother looking after myself.
“I think I’d have just started going on and off it forever if I hadn’t had my wake up call.
“Now I realise there’s no substitute for healthy eating and exercise and I’m back in the gym.
“But I struggle and I worry that I’ll always yo-yo.
“Skinny jabs made me feel, briefly, that all my weight issues were behind me. But if something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is.”
How to lose weight without surgery
There are various other ways to lose weight without going under the knife.
According to the NHS, to get the best possible start on its weight loss plan, there are the seven steps you should follow.
- Get active for 150 minutes a week – you can break this up into shorter sessions
- Aim to get your 5 A Day – 80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit or vegetables count as 1 portion
- Aim to lose 1 to 2lbs, or 0.5 to 1kg, a week
- Read food labels – products with more green colour coding than amber and red are often a healthier option
- Swap sugary drinks for water – if you do not like the taste, add slices of lemon or lime for flavour
- Cut down on food that’s high in sugar and fat – start by swapping sugary cereal for wholegrain alternatives
- Share your weight loss plan with someone you trust – they can help motivate you when you have a bad day
Junk food as a ‘quick fix’
Danielle’s weight issues started after giving birth to her two children, Rudy, 13, and Delilah, 11.
“I was slim and fit as a teenager as I did a lot of sport, even swimming for my county,” she remembers.
“But after I had the kids I was exhausted, didn’t have time to exercise and turned to junk food to give me a quick burst of energy.
“I started putting on weight and it’s getting worse as I’ve got older and my metabolism has slowed down.
“I only find it easy to lose weight when I’m stressed and my appetite goes. But when I’m happy I tend to eat a lot. My body craves chocolate and I have no will power at all.
“That’s why weight loss jabs worked for me as they took away my cravings. Instead of wanting a greasy fry up, I fancied lean steak and vegetables or salad and the weight fell off me.
“And there’s such a culture of turning to them at the moment. Loads of my friends take it, even those who aren’t remotely overweight – they can’t con a doctor like I did, so instead buy it on the black market.
“But it gets ridiculous, a few months ago we were all due to go to an all you can eat Chinese buffet.
“I was on a break from the jabs, so turned up but only three others did, the other 10 had no appetite and so decided not to come.”
‘I’ve learned my lesson’
Being on the medication also harmed Danielle’s relationship.
She says: “Lee hated me taking it. First of all, he likes me curvier, but also because I became moody.
“I cried at the drop of a hat and didn’t want to do anything.
“And eating is a sociable thing, but even on Christmas day I just pushed my food around my plate.
“The side effects started in my second month when I went from being on 2.5mg to 5.
“They were at their worst in the couple of days just after I injected.
“I’d get a tingly feeling over my body, feel sick and have an upset stomach both ends. And then the panic attacks kicked in – I thought I was dying.
“I stopped using the jabs at the beginning of January.
“I look back now and can’t believe I persisted for a whole month – I didn’t want to waste my £150.
“But there’s no way I’ll go down that route again. I’ve learnt my lesson.”
‘Weight loss jabs aren’t a magic bullet,’ says NHS doctor
Dr Rachel Ward, an NHS GP, says: “Mounjaro is licensed for people with diabetes or people whose BMI is 30 or 27 if they have comorbidities such as heart disease or hypertension.
“And so that’s the group of people they are tested on – they act on your metabolism which changes if you’re diabetic or obese.
“So if you’re using without those conditions it can make you very unwell as it’s not designed or tested for you.
“The other issue we are finding is people not correctly declaring other conditions they have or medications they are taking for fear of the prescription not being granted.
“This can be very dangerous as there can be drug interactions.
“One thing being explored at the moment is there might be an interaction between Mounjaro and the oral contraceptive pill so you are advised to take use additional contraception.
“In our area we can only prescribe for diabetic use. If you want it for obesity you have to go through a weight loss process of six months, incorporating food education and exercise.
“Once you’ve completed that you can be referred on a right to choose basis. But we’re finding people largely choose to go private.
“While obesity is undoubtedly a huge problem in this country, it’s complex and there are many factors leading to it, from poor education to psychological issues and mental health problems such as depression leading to overeating or social reasons such as poor access to good food.
“While Mounjaro can be helpful to start people on a weight loss journey, there have to be other lifestyle changes to make it sustainable, such as good nutrition and taking exercise.
“Weight loss jabs aren’t the magic bullet.”