Ashley James reveals she was punished by her teachers for having big boobs
Presenter and reality TV star, Ashley James, has revealed that her large boobs made her a target at school.
Talking on White Wine Question Time, the former Made in Chelsea star revealed that her 30GG boobs got her into a lot of trouble with both pupils and teachers while at school.
“I got detention for hugging my brother outside,” she revealed to podcast host Kate Thornton. “The teachers said, ‘Will the people in town know he’s your brother and what are they going to think when there's a blonde girl with big boobs canoodling with a boy outside?’
“My morality was always put into question, even by the teachers. I was almost treated like I was going to be a bit loose moraled because I had big boobs and everything. I was just always made to feel ashamed.”
Ashley said her large boobs also attracted a lot of attention from the boys in her school.
“When I was 14, I had 30 GG boobs and I was tiny,” she recalled. “The boys would come up to me and say [...] all this gross stuff, but rather than the teachers correcting their behaviour, they were saying to me: ‘You can't wear these clothes’. But then all my friends were allowed to wear the same clothes.
“As a 14-year-old girl that was really confusing for me because I was like, ‘Why am I not allowed?’”
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The star believes this early experience gave her body dysmorphia – a mental health condition where a person spends time worrying about perceived flaws in their appearance – something she says she still struggles with today.
“Before I was sexual, the teachers were treating me as if I was sexually active and I find that mad. Looking back I was being punished essentially for my body,” she said.
“I started to think if I want to be taken seriously, I need to start covering up my body, not wearing makeup. I wore glasses and I didn't even need glasses. How ludicrous is that? Just because I was like what can I do to be taken seriously.”
Thankfully moving to London and joining the celebrity circuit helped her realise that being seen as sexy wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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“It was only once I started to work in London that I met people who were sexy and creative,” she told Kate. “I was like ‘Wow, I can do very well. I can buy makeup and people will take me seriously. That's okay!’”
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You can hear Ashley James talk more about body confidence, acne and learning to love your cellulite, alongside former Love Island star Alexandra Crane and body positive influencer Chessie King on this week’s episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen on iTunes and Spotify now.