Posing for Closer’s ’40s-inspired bikini shoot, it’s hard to tell Big Brother twins Sam and Amanda Marchant apart – both are 5ft 6, blonde and have identical size 8 figures.
But earlier this year, Sam found herself unable to share Amanda’s clothes after putting on a stone.
“I went up a dress size – that doesn’t sound like much, but for me it felt enormous!” says Sam. “I had a muffin top that bulged over my jeans and Amanda’s clothes were so much tighter on me.”
The final straw came in February when Sam couldn’t get into any of their size 8 clothes. Sam says: “Amanda came home from shopping with a gorgeous miniskirt – I could barely get it over my hips! When she told me it fitted her perfectly, I burst into tears. I knew I had to do something.”
[ asset id="56563" class="rightBlock" ]
While Sam accepts that, ordinarily, going up a dress size shouldn’t be that devastating, she says being a twin gives everything, including weight, a different perspective.
“Every day I’d look at Amanda, who’s a size 8, and it was a constant reminder of how I look when I’m at my best – not too skinny, just slim and toned. It depressed me because we always hang out together and I knew people would notice,” she explains.
Sam, 20, who’s the elder of the twins by five minutes, embarked on a healthy regime six weeks ago and has now dropped the dress size she’d gained.
“I hated not looking like Amanda as we’re so used to being the same,” she says. “I felt bigger standing next to her and lost all my confidence, but now I’m much happier.”
Sam began putting on weight during the Christmas party season. “I went home to our parents in Stoke-on-Trent and enjoyed catching up with friends, drinking and eating whatever I wanted. It was Christmas – that’s what you do at that time of year,” she shrugs.
'Being a twin gives everything, including weight, a different perspective.'
But once she returned to the London flat she shares with Amanda, Sam kept ordering fattening Chinese or Italian takeaways. She’d also eat out with her boyfriend of three years, Richard Jones, 23, who works in the poker industry, instead of her usual healthy diet and twice-weekly workouts.
“I didn’t notice I was eating loads, but if I went for a curry with Amanda I’d eat twice as much, then finish her leftovers,” she says.
By the end of January, Sam was horrified to find she’d put on a stone and was the same size she’d been when she left the BB house in August 2007.
“We both put on a stone in the BB house, simply from being bored and not exercising and I felt really down about it,” says Sam. “I didn’t want to be that size again.
So in February this year, Sam embarked on a shape-up regime with London-based personal trainer James King.
“After my first meeting with James I got rid of all sauces, puddings, ready meals, and chocolate. Then I stocked up on fresh fruit and veg, chicken and fish. It seemed expensive at first, but now I’m cooking healthy meals from scratch instead of buying takeaways, so in the long term it’s worked out cheaper,” she says.
“James has also helped me with portion control. Now I stop eating when I feel full, even if there’s food on my plate.”
To speed up her metabolism, Sam trained three times a week, doing cardio on the treadmill and exercise bike at James’ London gym. She alternated the gym with three-mile runs outdoors with Amanda.
Sam performed sit-ups, crunches and core-strengthening manoeuvres every morning and evening for 10 mins to work her waist and abdominal muscles.
[ASSETHERE=image]
“After three weeks I noticed my stomach was toning up, which was really motivating,” she says. After six weeks, Sam was back to her ideal weight, although she stresses this wasn’t her main goal.
“I didn’t mind my weight, just so long as my tummy looked flatter, and my face looked less chubby!” she says.
“I’m going to keep up the healthy eating, but I’ve toned down the exercise as I don’t want to be thinner. I’m so happy I’m the same size as Amanda – now I can nick all her clothes again!”