By Neto Baptiste
An invitation from the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB) Pro World Championship, has pulled national fitness and body building IFBB Pro, Ambassador Melissa Seaforth, out of her intended one-year hiatus just six months in.
The Antiguan, who won the Open Masters Division of the Bikini Fitness Class last year at the World Championship, says she was a bit hesitant at first to accept the Class A invitation but believes she can be ready ahead of the November 1st championship slated for Santa Susanna, Barcelona.
“This is going to be a very intense preparation but I do have enough time. This is just over three months. Obviously this is my first time prepping for a show of that magnitude after taking significant time off because as you know, before I would have competed in the spring, in the fall, technically all year round for the years I’ve been competing. So, I’ve never taken six months off and the six months rest was no training and dieting going on. I totally did detox on bodybuilding so I will be essentially, going jumping straight into preparation but I’m confident that I am capable of doing so,” she said.
The Class A invitation, her seventh consecutive, will see Seaforth going straight into the semifinal round of the competition where she will face some of the top athletes in the world.
“Me and myself, I am a what you would call a black swan. I look different up against the girls so I don’t pay attention to what the girls are bringing this year. It seems to be a much more muscular and harder look. I focus on myself, my abilities and bringing the best me I can bring to the stage while meeting the judges’ requirements,” the Ambassador said.
Seaforth, who says she was encouraged by her parents, Joycelyn and Cleveland Seaforth to take up the invitation, won gold in the Masters Bikini division of the championship last year when the competition was held in Malta.
She is the reigning Sportswoman of the Year after having won the country’s top sport accolade for 2025 at the National Sports Awards held in March this year.
