Garden Rescue star Charlie Dimmock is in the headlines almost as much for her weight as she is for her horticultural skills.
But the self-deprecating green-fingered goddess isn’t afraid to shy away from the subject of her appearance. In fact, she’s addressed her sex symbol status, her changing weight and a common misconception about her appearance in the past.
Here’s our seven favourite things Charlie Dimmock has ever said about her weight, appearance and how she looks – and the majority of them are a defiant two-fingers up to the haters.
Charlie, you’re our spirit animal!
Charlie Dimmock on dressing up
Now, as regular viewers of Garden Rescue will know, Charlie gets her hands dirty. As a result, the show isn’t exactly a fashion parade.
She’s usually seen in jeans and a denim shirt when out getting down and dirty in the garden. And, back in 2006, she addressed a common misconception about her appearance when she’s away from her day job.
You have never been sexy before and it’s not like you’re Caprice or someone stunningly good-looking.
During a Q&A with the Independent, Charlie hinted that, at the time, she wasn’t ever expected to wear anything beyond her gardening outfit – even on occasions when she dressed up.
Charlie was asked to clear up a “common misperception” about her. She said: “That I don’t wear skirts.” She then added: “If I turn up at a function wearing a skirt people ask: ‘Where are your jeans?!'”
Charlie Dimmock on her weight fluctuations
In the summer of 2016, Charlie returned to regular appearances on TV in Garden Rescue. But, over a decade on since she was in the Garden Force crew, unkind observers trolled her over changes in her appearance. TV star Charlie said at the time that “life is too short” to worry about weight.
She said: “I’ve always been up and down in my weight. I’ll never be slim or skinny, let’s put it like that. One season I’ll be a size 14, then 18, but it’s something I’ve just accepted now. I’m at that age where I think, life is too short.”
Bra-gate
It’s long been a subject that Charlie has been asked to comment on. Back in 1999 she told The Guardian that “all the fuss about me not wearing a bra is funny”. And, since then, Charlie has revealed the real reason why she didn’t wear a bra – and, of course, it’s perfectly relatable.
In a resurfaced interview, she spoke out about her famous assets and revealed why she never wore a bra when she first burst onto the screen. She told The Mirror: “I am bored with people talking about my boobs. It was funny at first but it just keeps going round and round and round again.”
The star was then told that she could combat the attention if she started wearing a bra. Charlie had her answer ready and waiting. “I have worn a bra on Ground Force lots of times and people haven’t noticed. If I’m doing physical work they do ride up.”
When asked by the reporter about getting a bra that doesn’t ride up, Charlie fired back: “Then you’re into sports bras. And they’re incredibly tight.”
Charlie has also said she “didn’t plan” to become famous for not wearing a bra. Instead, she insisted the move was simply because “sometimes just more comfortable not having a bra on”.
Charlie on being a sex symbol
Despite an army of admirers, the sex symbol status doesn’t sit comfortably with Charlie. Back in 2014, she declared: “If you could see me now, my hair is in a tight bunch and I’m out in the garden doing compost. The whole sex symbol thing was a bit silly really.”
Speaking in a resurfaced interview with the Guardian, Charlie elaborated further. She said: “I was never one of the girls that boys went out with. I never was. So to suddenly be sexy is ridiculous, really. It is projected [onto her], and that’s what’s silly about it. You have never been sexy before and it’s not like you’re Caprice or someone stunningly good-looking,” she said modestly.
Reflecting on her time as a pin-up, she has previously revealed: “I received a few silly letters back then, like a marriage proposal from a farmer in Australia.”
The star has never married, so we’re guessing her admirer was left disappointed…
‘Look at the boys – they’re much more attractive!’
Keen to divert attention back towards her gardening and away from her famous boobs, Charlie told the Radio Times when she signed up for Garden Rescue that she hoped her co-hosts David and Harry Rich got more attention than her.
“All that was all so silly and a long time ago,” she said about her sex symbol status. “Move along, move along, I’ll say! Look at the boys, they’re much more attractive.”
Charlie Dimmock weight: Star’s ’rounder body’ and ‘anxiety’ it caused
Charlie spoke to The Guardian in 1999 and said that her body had caused her anxiety in the past.
She revealed that, at the age of 16, her parents split. She said that it’s around that age that “you’re always a bit up in the air”. When asked about the impact of puberty on her, Charlie revealed: “I had acne, I was awkward, always a tomboy. I mean, I’m not much better now, but I’ve got over the fact of having a rounder body than most people.”
She added: “Well, sometimes it’s better and sometimes it’s worse, but never mind. When you’re younger, it’s such a cause of anxiety.”
Charlie also revealed at the time that people are often “disappointed” when they meet her. She said “a few” people have told her: “Oh you’re not as big as you look on television.”
Calendar Girls
Any hangups didn’t stop Charlie stripping off for a production of Calendar Girls, though.
She told the News Shopper back in 2010: “Me being naked with the other girls was quite horrifying because they are all proper actors and I’m not. It was simply a case of: ‘Here’s a glass of champagne, can you take all your clothes off now?'”
Charlie added: “It would be a fib to say I wasn’t expecting it because we all know what the show is and we all know what happens. It is so well choreographed, the audience doesn’t see anything.”
Read more: Charlie Dimmock’s unflattering nickname coined by the garden rescue team
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