LOOKING at Krystina Jamieson, she’s a powerhouse of muscles, brimming with confidence in her tiny bikini on stage.
But the 40-year-old didn’t always look this way – she was once 24st, unable to get IVF and addicted to plastic surgery to try and look like a cartoon.
The bodybuilder reckons she has spent £80,000 on surgeries and tweakments, including five boob jobs (and heart-shaped nipples), a ‘designer vagina’, cheek and lip filler.
However, she got a gastric bypass for free on the NHS, and is since sporting an entirely new look.
Krystina remembers the first time she ever felt the desire to look like a cartoon character, while on her first girls’ holiday in Ibiza.
Then 17-years-old, she had a caricaturist street artist draw her.
“We’d thought it would be a laugh to get our portraits done,” remembers Krystina.
“When his masterpiece was revealed, my jaw dropped.”
Staring at the exaggerated figure with beach-ball breasts and pillowy lips, she was mesmerised.
“I wished I looked like that in real life. My pals tittered, thinking I was joking. But I was deadly serious.”
Her peers chased the waif-like frames of supermodels, but Krystina’s heart belonged to the hourglass silhouettes of Dolly Parton and Marilyn Monroe.
Back home in Barnsley, she “couldn’t stop thinking” about her “perfect” cartoon double.
The moment she turned eighteen, she dropped £5,000 on her first breast augmentation.
She says: “After losing weight during my teens, my once-pert boobs had drooped. It left me feeling self-conscious.”
Looking in the mirror at her new 34FF chest, up from a 32DD, she was taken aback at how “perfect” they were.
“My new look left me feeling on top of the world, and by the time I was discharged the following day, I was already planning my next procedure,” Krystina says.
“Over the next few years, I had five more boob jobs, taking me up to a massive 36K.”
“Then, I started getting filler and Botox. With every tweak, I looked more like my caricature.
“To me, plastic really was fantastic.”
However, as her chest grew, so did her waistline, which only got worse from 2014, when she met her boyfriend Andy, 55, a gym owner, personal trainer and former ex-bodybuilder.
“Food had always been a comfort and every time my jeans felt tighter, I booked another procedure to boost my confidence,” she says.
“When I met my boyfriend, Andy, my weight skyrocketed. We fell into a happy routine of date nights at fancy restaurants and greasy takeaways.
“The love chub piled on and before I knew it, I weighed 24 stone and wore a size 22.
“Still, I glammed myself up with perfect hair, make-up and nails. As long as I look good, my weight doesn’t matter, I told myself.
“Before long, we decided to start a family. After a few years with no joy, we went to see about IVF.”
The appointment, in 2017, was a huge wake-up call for Krystina after a doctor bluntly told her she needed to lose weight and come back in two years.
“I cried in disbelief. I knew I’d never be able to stick to a diet for that long.”
The reality of her health finally hit home during a flight to Cuba when she was forced to ask for a seat-belt extender.
“It made me re-evaluate everything. ‘I need to do something about this,’ I said to Andy, worrying about my health.
“Even walking short distances made me breathless. At the gym, I couldn’t last more than 30 seconds on the crosstrainer before collapsing into a sweaty mess.”
Krystina saw her GP who agreed that she was an ideal candidate for weight-loss surgery, and referred her.
Though it felt like a quick fix, she lost 14 stone within a year of the operation, in 2017.
“The procedure went well and afterwards, I lived on a diet of jellies and yoghurt,” Krystina says.
“When I could eat normal food again, I was on holiday, and ordered a massive pizza to celebrate. But after three bites, I was full.”
Different types of weight loss surgery
For many people who are overweight or obese, they may feel they have exhausted options for weight loss and want to try something more drastic.
Weight loss surgery may be available to them on the NHS if they have a BMI over 40 and have a condition that may be improved with weight loss, such as diabetes.
But the availability of these procedures largely depends on where you live in the UK. People can also pay privately.
Weight loss surgery is a common and safe procedure. However, as with any operation, there are risks, such as a blood clot, a band slipping out of place, a stomach infection, gallstones and excessive skin from weight loss that in most cases, won’t be removed on the NHS.
In all of the following options, the space in the stomach is reduced, therefore a person feels fuller after eating less food. They lose weight as a result.
However, it is necessary for them to also learn good eating habits and have a healthy balanced diet, too.
Gastric bypass
The stomach is divided into two using a staple. The smaller part is connected to the intestines, effectively cutting how much space there is in the stomach by half.
The operation takes around two hours.
Gastric band
A band is tied around the top of the stomach and inflated so that it tightens.
The operation takes three to four hours.
Gastric balloon
Patients swallow an empty balloon which is attached to a tube.
The balloon is filled with water via the tube, taking around 20 minutes, so that it fills around two-thirds of the stomach space.
Sleeve gastrectomy
Around 80 per cent of the stomach is removed in surgery to make it much smaller and a sleeve shape.
The operation takes between one and three hours.
She went to the gym and admits she became “addicted to exercise”.
She swapped her career as a hair and beauty salon owner for coaching other women who wanted to transform their bodies.
However, her own rapid weight loss left her 36K breasts looking like a “saggy, lumpy mess.” Determined to fix them properly, she went on the US TV show Botched in 2019.
She had to travel to Los Angeles but the boob job, which cost $100,000 (£73,000), was paid for by the TV company.
“It was a huge amount of money, but I wanted the best,” says Krystina.
“The gym Andy and I owned was doing well, so I decided to go for it.
“Getting dressed was a struggle as I would have to physically tuck my boobs and loose skin into my bra cups.
“When I saw the results, I cried with relief.
“Shortly after returning home, we finally got started with IVF.”
Krystina successfully fell pregnant through IVF and welcomed her son, Delaney, in June 2020.
“When Delaney was four, I underwent more surgery, undergoing a tummy tuck and arm lift,” she says.
She spent £7,000 on her stomach, £8,000 on her arms and £9,000 on her legs.
But determined not to undo her hard work, Krystina transitioned from a surgery patient to a dedicated athlete, having slowly become aware of the bodybuilding world.
“Some of my clients began competing in bikini shows and I’d prep them for the stage and guide their nutrition,” she says.
“But it was one area I had no first-hand experience of.”
She signed up for her first bikini competition, on Mother’s Day 2025.
“It involved 16 weeks of training, and when I stepped out on to the stage, I felt incredible and it spurred me on to train harder,” says Krystina.
“By the end of the year, I was competing in athletic bodybuilding and even qualified for two British finals!
“I also got an invite to compete in Miss Universe in Italy this year, I go in July where I am hoping to qualify to compete in Miss World.”
Krystina has competed in 19 shows since and, while she ironically looks more like her original caricature than ever, the motivation has shifted from vanity to mental fortitude.
She says: “For years, I obsessed over how I looked, but bodybuilding isn’t just about muscles, it’s about discipline and focus.
“These days I’m mentally tougher than ever.
“Andy has supported me every step of the way, from 36K boobs through weight-loss surgery, to stepping on stage covered in fake tan and glitter.
“I’m so proud of how far I’ve come!”
