Gail Porter has shared her ordeal at having to live with naturally giant 28J breasts, that have caused her physical pain as well as mental anguish.
The 45-year-old TV presenter reveals on Channel 5's Celebrity Botched Up Bodies that she was nine-years-old when her boobs started to develop – and they didn't stop growing.
Her desire to be flat-chested contributed to her developing an eating disorder and she even used to self-harm in a bid to cut them off.
Now the mother-of-one has taken the route of cosmetic surgery to reduce their size to a C cup after plucking up the courage to go under the knife.
The 5ft 2 star said her big breasts have always been a burden to her, causing her back, shoulder and neck pain.
She said: 'Js? Who has got Js? My nickname is 28Js later. They are like sandbags. I am exhausted and my back is getting more curved.
'Exercise is a nightmare. I love my running but I am knackered by the time I get back and not just from running but from the weight, they are very heavy.'
She said her drooping cleavage also affects her confidence.
'I can't even look at myself in the mirror it is too ugly,' she said.
'When I was younger I wanted to be rid of them so I would self-harm and cut myself. It was years ago but that's how much I hated them.'
Gail admits she hated her breast from a young age as she was a nine-year-old when puberty started – much younger than her classmates, which caused her to be bullied.
'I was aware I was different and developing earlier than the other girls,' she said. 'In PE they all wore vests and I wore a bra. People would ping my bra and call me names so I was kind of the laughing stock.'
The Scottish mother said this bullying led her to develop an eating disorder, but even at her skinniest when she was risking her health and ability to have children, she still had large breasts.
'When I was 26 I was taken into hospital. I had no periods, I was told I could never have a child, but all I wanted to do was get rid of the boobs.
'Even when I was anorexic they were constantly there. My arms, legs and face would get thinner but my boobs, “we are not leaving you”,' she said.
Her breasts contributed to her rise to stardom when a naked picture of her was projected onto the Houses Of Parliament following a nude shoot with lads' magazine FHM, but Gail said their size meant she never felt beautiful – or comfortable.
She added that the problems with her confidence only got worse in her thirties when she lost her hair due to alopecia.
'When my hair dropped out I thought "really? Too much”,' she said wiping away a tear.
'It was difficult in the way people perceive you and the jobs stopped coming. I do have days when I think I don't want to go out and I don't want people to judge me.'
Gail, who split up with Toploader musician Dan Hipgrave, the father of her daughter, Holly, in 2005, is now in a relationship with Craig Stewart who told Channel 5 he can see how much his girlfriend's large chest knocks her confidence.
He said: 'The way she feels about her body is affecting her mentally. She is fed up of carrying them about for all these years. She is beautiful as far as I am concerned but she doesn't see past the top half of her body.'
After visiting cosmetic surgeon Paul Harris, Gail decided she would go through with a reduction operation, despite the associated risks of surgery.
He told her of her breasts: 'They are heavy, I can see they are out of proportion with your frame. I think you are an excellent candidate for breast reduction. You have back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain and it is limiting your ability to exercise.'
He warned her that due to her being a J cup, he would only be able to reduce them to a C so they would still had a natural shape, and they may not be as perky as she would like.
But after recovering from the operation, Gail said she was delighted with the appearance.
'They look perky, I am thrilled to bits,' she said.
'My confidence has gone through the roof, I can sit up straight and I can wear dresses and tops without looking pregnant.'
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