MEDIA REQUESTS FOR YOU TO TAKE PART There are always TV companies needing volunteers to take part in programmes –documentaries, diet clubs, fitness programmes - these and many more need people living with weight problems on a daily basis to contribute. Please see request from media companies below. If you would be interested in taking part keep an eye on this page for latest TV requests but you may also want to e-mail us and we will notify you when we hear from the companies as some of them may be on very tight schedules and direct contact is the quickest route. We will NEVER pass on your email to another party, we will let you know what they want and then leave it up to you to contact them directly.Any agreements are between you and them and at your own judgement.

Media companies go to the base of the page to find some people looking to be involved in your shows. If you want to contact these people please click here and we will ask them to get in touch.

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Media requests

ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR ADVENTURE?

A BRAND NEW BBC TV SHOW IS LOOKING FOR BOYS AND GIRLS TO GO ON AN AMAZING JOURNEY TO FIND OUT WHERE THEIR FOOD COMES FROM

How big a role does food play in your life?

Ever wondered where your food comes from?

Or have you never given it a second thought?

WE WANT TO GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO TRAVEL TO SOUTH EAST ASIA TO FIND OUT HOW THE FOOD YOU EAT IS MADE

If you are aged between 18 and 26 and interested in finding out more, Please call one of the team on 01273 224 819 Or email myfood@ricochet.co.uk (26/11/08)

Britains Biggest Loser ARE YOU TIRED OF BEING OVERWEIGHT?WANT A CHANCE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER?WANT TO DO IT WITH YOUR PARTNER/FAMILY/FRIEND? Producers of the hit international TV series the Biggest Loser are looking for very overweight people to apply in pairs. This could consist of duos such as couples, siblings, parent & child, old school friends and flatmates. You must both fit the following criteria: • Aged between 18 and 50 • Wanting to lose a minimum of 4 stone • Available to live in our health retreat for 8 weeks between Jan and March 2009. (NB This means you will not be able to work at all during this time).Past series in the US have seen some incredible transformations and genuinely helped its contestants lose considerable amounts of weight... As you will see from these before and after photos If you and someone you know are serious about losing weight, committed to getting fit and passionate about changing your lives then apply/contact us ASAP at: www.britainsbiggestloser.com or on 0871 210 8877 (20/11/08)

Channel 4 Gok Wan teenage obesity

Do you have a problem with being overweight? Are you obsessed with food? Or worried about someone in your family who is?

Gok Wan is fronting a new documentary about adolescent and teenage obesity and we would like to hear from you.

Please contact us at Firefly Productions, the award winning production company commissioned by Channel 4 to make the documentary.

Please call: 0207 033 2271 (6/11/08)
Or email: gok@fireflyproductions.tv

TELEVISION PILOT

We are looking for people for a potential new series, Love Lives Less Ordinary. This series will look at how people who are not classified as 'average' can still have a good love life and sex life. It will look at breaking the idea that just because someone is too little or too big they can still pursue an active relationship.Initially I just need to speak to some people to put together a promo tape, but should this series then go ahead then the people involved will have first refusal on whether or not they want to take part. This particular tape will not be shown on television. I do need people quite urgently Claire.Edwards@crackitproductions.co.uk (14/10/08)

Diet Guru

· If you battle with your weight and would like to hear from some specialist “Diet Gurus” whilst helping create a television pilot then this could be of interest to you!!!

· On the 18th or 19th of this month we’re inviting up to 20 specialist dieticians to a conference in which they’ll be trying to convince 100 weight-battling participants that they hold the key to diet success.

· All our “Diet Gurus” have impressive CV’s, many working with celebrities and they’ll have 5 minutes to pitch their own unique techniques.

· Our weight battling participants will need to listen closely and make a decision as to which Guru they’re most convinced by.

· If you would like to have a fun day out whilst also hearing some genuinely innovative diet techniques, as well as helping us create TV, and you’re free all day on the 18th or 19th September, then send a small covering letter with your outlining why you would like to take part and a contact telephone number to Sharon.staunton@eyeworks.tv

CONTESTANTS MUST BE AVAILABLE ALL DAY THURSDAY 18TH OR FRIDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2008.BEST OF LUCK

Daily Mail

We are looking for 2 sisters, one of whom has a real issue with her weight, the other is slim. They with both be paid for taking part. For more initial information contact asap DIANAAPPLEYARD@aol.com (2/9/08)

PAID MARKET RESEARCH INTO TYPE 2 DIABETES

The Research House is a market research company that specializes in medical research. We are currently looking for patients who have been diagnosed with type II diabetes to take part in either an in-depth individual interview (time to be confirmed) or a focus discussion group at 6pm on Thursday 11th September.Both the interview and the focus group will take place at our central London Wigmore Street facility. The focus group will last approximately 2 hours whilst the interview will take one hour.

An honorarium of £50 will be paid for your time and opinions.Respondents must take either two types of oral anti-diabetic or BYETTA. You will be required to bring your medication with you. If you are interested in taking part, please contact me, providing:

· a contact telephone number,· your height,· your weight and we can go through our screening questionnaire to ensure that you fit our client’s criteria.

Please note that participation in the focus group or the interview will be determined by the results of the screening questionnaire. Schlesinger Associates The Research House - Central London
124 Wigmore Street
London WIU 3RY
Phone: 020 7487 9291
Fax: 020 7224 2494
simon@research-house.co.uk ( sep08)

Guardian - your views on obesity

I am a journalist from the Guardian and I am putting together a piece on obesity and I am looking for five people to interview. The interviews would be about your experience of obesity, and how it has affected your lives. It would also be about how you feel you are treated by others, including the medical profession and politicians who talk about the so-called "obesity crisis". I would also like to examine the way food is marketed, and other issues. It will be, we hope, an opportunity for people who have personal
experience of obesity to talk about the issue for themselves, rather than just hearing from health professionals and others about it.

We would like to photograph you and the interview would be done in person (I will travel to meet you). If you would like to take part or to know more, please don't hesitate to contact me on emine.saner@guardian.co.uk or 07709 483816.(29/7/08)

Have you got an Amazing Weight Loss Story?

ITV Productions are producing a documentary about weight loss and want to hear from people who have shed huge amounts of weight. Whether your amazing success has been through surgery, diet or exercise we would like to hear your story. To find out more send your contact details and a brief email about your experience to Sarah.Doughty@Granadamedia.com (9/7/08)

Are you a BBW or BHM? Are you in a relationship?

Leopard Films are developing a documentary about plus size people and relationships. We're looking for couples where either one or both of the people involved are BBW / BHM. The programme will explore all of the factors surrounding these relationships and learn about any issues that may arise in them.

If you're interested in taking part, then I'd really like to hear from you.
Please contact Bidhan on 020 7288 2192 or email query@leopardfilms.com (8/7/08)

TEENS WANTED FOR NEW UK STYLE TV SERIES

Are you 16-19 years old, suffering from an embarrassing illness and don’t know where to turn? Fancy being treated by alternative health experts at a luxury Spa?

If you suffer from weight problems, overeating ,PMS, skin problems, sexual health issues, bad breath, IBS or other embarrassing conditions and would like to take part please contact our hot line on 0141 241 6096 or e-mail spa@terntv.com (8/7/08)

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I want to be on TV

These are just a few people who have contacted us and are looking to appear in shows -

ref pa 0403

I need help.I hate junk food( yes you read it correctly) am 15 stone and am getting nowhere with my doctor. i think i would make an interesting candidate for a diet show as i eat healthily clearly i am doing something wrong not to be able to lose weight but i know there must be people just like me. I am willing to appear on any program that might help me

ref cs 2301

I'm interested in being contacted by media companies interested in volunteers who want to lose weight. A few details about me. I used to be slim, active, good at sport and most importantly healthy. Unfortunately, I used to be, and do, many things I enjoyed, but now I am obese, inactive, unhealthy and often unhappy. Although, most people don't know how much it bothers me, as I'm the jolly joker. (I am known for my sense of humour.)

I'm 40, a mature student, have PCOS, have a BMI of 46, am 5ft tall and weigh 220 lbs. I have managed to lose two stone over two years but, this is not enough. Although, to the casual observer, I appear to lack willpower, I am more bloody minded than it first appears and I know that when I put my mind to it, I can accomplish things that at
first appear unachievable (for me).

For example, I completed the London to Brighton Cycle Ride, when I was even more unfit than I am now and when my BMI was 50; I was homeless, with not much prospect and now I am a medical student. I definitely need help to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Although I would love to lose weight, what matters to me more, is that I feel and look healthy. I wish I could afford to travel somewhere where my only option was to be physically active and to eat good healthy food, but I am on a serious budget, so under my own steam, that's unlikely to happen. I guess surgery's out of the question, too ... P.s. I love challenges!

ref jb 1201

I am looking for a programme that would like to reinvent me! I am 40yrs of age next july and i will be retaking my wedding vows then. I am at least 10 stone overweight and would like help to totally reinvent myself for that special day. I work part time and am mum to 2 boys. I suffer healthwise due to my weight, having osteoarthritis and can end up on crutches at the end of the day because of chronic muscle spasms. I have asked for help from the doctors about having gastric bypass, but to no avail as yet. I would love someone who could grant me my wish and maybe follow my progress, firstly with surgery for weight loss then helping reinvent myself completely for my big day. I have been screaming for help for years! Please someone hear my cry!

ref kb2001

I am a 21 year old girl who found out two years ago i had a wheat allergy. I was always very slim and never had to worry about excersise or what i was eating but since i have had to cut out the wheat i have been substituting it with fod high in fat and calories. My problem is now i have gained the weight I have found that i cannot go on many diets because there is normally a high dependancy on foods that contain wheat. For example all of these diet snack bars have wheat in them.

I am trying to eat healthily but am not sure how healthy i actually do eat and i am getting sick of the boring meals i cook. Due to me not eating wheat i also have a fatigue which makes me unmotivated and abdominal bloating which really afects my social life. I beliveve this is all due to the food i am eating and i believe with the right foods i may become alive again.

I want to gain the motivation to continue my studies, go to work daily and socialise more. Although i do not have servere weight issues as i am on average a size 14 i would still benefit from help from a specialist, a dietician or a creative cook who could motivate me to get into my favourite size 10's again and get my life back together.

ref jm1801

I am 30 and have suffered from ME since I was 17.
5 years ago I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and suffer from various other possible hormone related probs.

Going to doctors is a nightmare they are usually very unhelpful. I am very overweight 15 st and 5"5 tall.My weight is increasing and spiraling out of control, yet I eat realtively healthy but struggle to exercise because of my ME, I would love to lose weight or have surgery so I could return to my normal weight of 9 & 1/2 stone.My size has greatly knocked my confidence with friends, family,colleagues etc

I ve tried almost every diet going, several different types of slimming pills, had liposuction and have even considered weight loss surgery. Im at my witts end, I do know know why I cannot loose weight, when I diet I gain weight - Its completely ruined my life and I havent a clue as to what I can do to loose weight, look better and improve my health

If you feel I may be what your looking for or can help me in any way please get in touch

ref sh2912

I am 50 years old and have been overweight all of my life; I weighed 11 pounds when I was born and have never known what it is to be slim. As a child I was taken to various doctors, put on medication that we now know should not be prescribed, taken to slimming clubs, blackmailed, bullied etc and that was by my parents! I grew into a desperately unhappy child, but for years I was not able to discuss this with people. I now am able to talk freely about my experiences and am more confident because of it.

At my heaviest I weighed 25 stone and flew to Belgium to have a gastric band fitted. (Seat belt extensions needed!) I went down to 14 stone, but my band was overfilled and when it was slackened off I started to gain weight; I currently weigh almost 18 stone and am struggling to get back to where I was and below that.

I am interested in taking part in any programmes which could help me to lose weight with counselling, surgery and/or plastic surgery.

I am the mother of a 24-year-old son, who had a gastric band fitted on the same day as me. He also had his band overfilled and is since terrified of becoming that ill again, so has his own issues.

We are both articulate and if anyone is interested in our story I am able to e-mail photographs and more details.

ref pw0101

I am a 31 year old female who had gastric banding surgery 18 months ago. Since then I have developed acid and a related inflamed oesophagus which has lead to me being limited to certain foods. I have lost 4.5 stone to date which I am pleased about but as is typical with weight loss I now have excess skin and flabby areas. I know that
nothing can be done until I have lost all the weight I want to but am getting depressed at the state of my body again!!! I have also however come to a standstill with my weightloss and would be happy to participate in any TV programs which may help in my situation.

ref dm 0209

Please,please can you help me i am 49yrs old and am a mother of four i have been very selfconscious since i had my first baby at the age of 19yrs old.although i was only size 8 before and after the pregnancy my belly pulled and tore instead of stretching since then i have been left with a very hanging saggy tummy wich totaly disgusts me.i have never walked around naked in front of my partner as i am so selfconsious i absolutely hate my tummy and would give anything to have a tummy tuck so i could feel good about my self for once in my life.i will be 50 on 26 Dec (although people say i don’t look it )and would be so happy if i could for once be able to wear pritty panties and bikinis as i have never worn one since aged 19 .please please help if you can it would mean the world to me as there is no way i can afford it myself(thanking you)

ref cs 1708

Im 28 and would like to be considered for any shows involved with weight loss, cosmetic surgery etc. I am stuck at the same weight but overweight with a sagging scarred tummy following pregnancy and surgery during pregnancy - exercise does not seem to improve this. I also have a sagging chest which makes me very unhappy. I eat fairly healthily and am active but do not shed the pounds. I suffer from PCOS which in turn makes it harder to loose weight also. I have no self confidence following an abusive relationship where my ex partner would not allow me to go to the gym and I now have a great phobia over my looks and can not bare to look in the mirror. I do hope someone can help.

ref ba1408

Im 34 years old. As long as I can remember I have had bad luck, but It took a turn for the worst in 2004. In january 2004 I noticed I was putting on weight. I had always been a very natrual slim size 10 and around 9 and a half stone. I was in a wonderful relationship, and going to the gym daily, with a great high powered job. So I started to push myself at the gym even more, I was attending the gym every day for an hour then going off to work for 9am, but i was still putting on weight and in the strangest places. My trunk was expanding, I was becoming very spotty, and very tired. I went to the doctors, who told me it was my hormones slowing down, the sort of thing that happens to someone of my age! He put me on diet pills. I still gained weight. By August 2004 I had gained over six stone in seven months, and frequently visiting the doctor, who kept telling me that i was eating all the wrong food and it was my hormones, eventually I convinced him to refer me, which he did, to a gynacologist! The gynacologist took one look at me and refered me to a endocrinologist. When I finally got to see the endocrinologist in November 2004 I was a dress size 22.

I was then diagnosed with Cushings disease caused by a piturity tumour. The tumour was removed in January 2005. But unfortunatly by then I had developed
a large trunk, Buffalo hump and a very large moon face, all clasic symptoms of Cushings disease.

Since the removal of my tumour my cushings disease has gone, and I have managed to loose a lot of weight, now back to 10 and a half stone, dress size 12, but I m struggaling in getting rid of my moon face, and it does nothing for my self esteeme. I lost several teeth due to the tumour, and recently lost my hair due to a hair dressers over processing it........

Its all very soul destroying, and I have lost a sence of who I am as I do not recognise myself any more, If only I could see my face again as it was.....

I would like to have smart lipo or a face/kneck lift, I would like to have some teeth again, I would also like to get rid of all the saggy skin I have from the weight loss. I m happy to participate in live tv shows that can help me with any of the above.

ref sh 1408

Hi, I'm 31 years old and would like to be considered for any up coming shows to feature breast operations. I have two children and like most mothers now
have sagging boobs which I would like to fix. I love my children but hate my new body shape, even though I have slimmed to probably less weight than I
was before both children, the pregnancies have left their toll Please help

ref:SL3007

I am 26 years old. I've always struggled with my weight & in the last year have gone from 9 stone 10 pounds to 13 stone exactly. YES that's right over 3 stone weight gain in just 1 year, how is that even humanly possible?

I have never liked the taste of most vegetables, I wish I did & that I could sit down & have a lovely salad or fill up on roasted veggies but I just can't. I know my bad diet effect my mood completely & this is what worries me. I've been clinically depressed since I was 15 & have seen hypno-therapists, councillors, alternative therapists & nothings ever improved. Now I've been taking anti depressants for the past 2 years. I've always been against these & have always said, if your unhappy with your situation then change it. But I've been running away, quitting jobs, moving area for a decade now & it always creeps back up on me. I believe this is because I've never tried to change my diet & I really need help with this.

You hear about schools who've changed their school dinners & the kids are now brilliant & listening, behaving & not causing trouble & I know its all down to food. I would love to participate in 1 of your weight loss programs, especially an extreme 1 where your perhaps sent to a super detox centre / activities programme to try out many different systems. As well as being served healthy meals that I could get to love, being shown how to cook healthy meals & create recipes / sauces as well would be a great help. So please keep me in mind & do not hesitate to contact me in the near future.

refSA3007

hi there i am desperate for help! i am a driving instructor? who sits down for most of the day? and have a husband and a family to look after also. yes ive tried everything from slimming world to weight watchers, caloris counting, gyms, starving myself? you name it ive tried it basically. ive thought about doing something like this for years and i know it would work for me, being constantly monitored and under the watchful eye of tv cameras! id love it, so if you've got any challenges in the near future please let me know l. i am 5ft 3in and 15st, pear shape. need to buy clothes ranging from 18-20. i am 39yrs old and i would love to think life begins at 40yrs. but would like to be about 10st and a healthy size 12 travelling doesnt bother me and it would fine be if i were to spend a few months away.

refKH0607 hi im wondering if there is any t.v shows i could go on to get a free tummy tuck. I put on five stone during pregnancy then lost weight and now my belly is saggy and full of stretch marks, my breasts are also saggy, i feel like an old woman and im only 29, i carnt afford surgery as im a single mother and i never want to meet anyone the way i look

Ref:RJ1006.Hi I am looking to participate in a surgery television thats pays for the procedure or helps pay if I allow the surgery to be filmed. I am 18 years and have severe back problems due to overly large breast. My family is short on money and can not afford my breast reduction procedure. If something is not done soon i may be hunched back or even cripled for the rest of my life. Please help, if anyones meets my request please contact me asap. Thank You

Ref: TB 0506 I would love to be contacted if there are any weight loss programmes coming up… biggest looser type health farm, weight loss surgery, new pills will try anything new. I am 28 years old and have struggled with my weight all my life. I suffer with PCOS and have an insulin resistance problem which really doesn’t help!? I want to tackle my relationship with food to beat this altogether! Please help!

RefDW0806 I am a 29 year old female who has constantly battled with my weight. From as far back as I can remember I have been on some sort of diet, constant yo-yoing. I am now at my ideal weight and have maintained it for 2years now. However despite endless nites at the gym and every morining swimming, I still have lots of excess skin and 'flabby' bits, bingo wings, giant wobbly thighs amongst lots of other unsightly areas of my body. Its very depressing looking in the mirror and I'm very unhappy with my body, especially when i do try hard. It seems the only answer now is cosmetic surgery. So if there are any shows out there looking for participants, I would be very very grateful if i could be considered. I hope you can help.

Media requests

If you need participants for forthcoming programmes please click here

. Big Matters Ltd has no links with any media organisations and any agreement enterered into is between you and the company concerned and at your own judgement.

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