Jennifer Carroll: My comedic persona became my safety blanket - at my expense

In an extract from Jennifer Carroll’s book, ‘Jen’s Journey’, the influencer describes how people-pleasing once controlled her life. After her son was born, she left an abusive relationship and returned home to Dublin, where she overhauled her eating habits and lifestyle. As she got stronger physically and mentally, every part of her life improved

Jennifer Carroll: "There were definitely a few a**eholes who made fun of me — but I allowed myself to think that everyone felt this way towards me"

WHEN I walked into a room, I felt that people didn’t see me — they just saw my size. So I created a loud, larger-than-life, bubbly personality that, I hoped, would show others that there was more to me than just my weight. I fell into a bad habit of making ‘jokes’ or derogatory comments about myself.

My reasoning behind this was always ‘I know everyone else is thinking it, so I’ll break the ice and make it less awkward for us all by mentioning the elephant in the room.’