Fitness expert faces backlash after saying she won’t work with overweight people

Fitness expert Samantha Yardley has sparked controversy by saying she won’t work with overweight people. 

Appearing on This Morning, Yardley – a writer and editor in the fitness industry – spoke to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford explaining that while she doesn’t want to ‘encourage judgement’ towards people who are overweight, it is ‘something that needed to be said’. 

She added: “We all take the path of least resistance – we need to make it more inconvenient to be obese.”

She went on to add that plus-size clothes shouldn’t be readily available in shops. Eamonn slammed the idea as ‘incredibly cruel’. 

She also added that she thought hiring overweight people is not a ‘good business move’. 

She said: “Look at the facts. People who are obese take off nearly twice as many days off work than those people within a healthy weight range for a start.

“That’s going to have a financial implication. And, also from personal experience, from being larger, you are more lethargic and more lazy.”

Eamonn and Ruth questioned her about the struggles some might face when losing weight, including the people who are living with an illness.

She replied: “You don’t need to have six-pack abs or work out every day. It’s a lifestyle choice, you need to eat a little bit less, work out a little bit more. It’s just a calorie deficit you need to implement and that will cause a physical change.”

Alison Hammond has responded to the fitness trainer saying ‘Come and train me babes – I’ll probably run rings around you!’.

Her comments have caused a stir online with many people taking to Twitter to express their thoughts.

One user wrote: “To Samantha Yardley: I would rather be obese and live a shorter life full of empathy, care, compassion, love and assistance to others than live a long life as a thin person with so much privilege that they disguise their vitriol for overweight people as a desire to help them.”

Another wrote: “I am beyond disgusted  How can you justify being so cruel?  Shame on you”

One user blamed the programme for giving ‘people like Samantha Yardley airtime’. 

One user wrote: “The interview with Samantha Yardley on #ThisMorning was shocking to watch. The debate on obesity and health is so overshadowed with bullying and prejudice. Those comments were just a way to grab attention.”

What do you think of Samantha’s comments? Let us know.