Three years ago, Jen Atkin was enjoying planning her dream wedding, when her fiancé suddenly called it off.
His reason for ditching his blushing bride-to-be? She’d been eating too much junk food and had gotten “too fat”.
Well fast forward to present day and Jen, now happily married to someone else, has managed to get the ultimate revenge on her ex by being crowned Miss Great Britain.
The 26-year-old aviation administrator who lives in Ulceby, swapped takeaways for healthy eating and shed eight stone, going from a size 22 to a size 10 over the course of two years.
After slimming from 17st to 9st, Jen was named Miss Scunthorpe before going on to compete for the title of Miss England in 2018, where she finished first runner up.
She then briefly retired from competing in pageants, but decided to give it one more shot after having her name put forward for the 75th Miss Great Britain competition.
And she only went and nabbed the title last Friday at the glittering national final in Leicester.
After winning the pageant, Jen said: “I’m still in shock at winning, I’m so happy I can’t even put it into words – I honestly can’t believe it.
“When I started doing this it was just for a bit of fun, I never imagined how far I would come. Three years ago I would never ever expected to be winning Miss GB.
“Hard work really does pay off.”
She continued to say: “Winning Miss Great Britain marks the end of a long and difficult, but also amazing, journey.
“Although my body has changed so much I think don’t think my personality has, and I think that’s really helped me.
“The judges were able to see what kind of person I really am.”
The beauty queen went on to recall how her break-up inspired her to make big changes in her life.
“[Before we broke up] I would eat huge portions of pasta or pizza then a family-size chocolate bar. At weekends, we’d turn into virtual recluses sitting on the sofa in our pyjamas eating takeaways – spending £20 each time.
“The day he left I thought my world had ended – I cried for weeks and used food as my comfort. But it ended up being the best thing that’s happened to me.”
Jen soon signed up to her local gym and hasn’t looked back since – instead she’s looking on to bigger and better things, including boosting her country music career.
“I’m over the moon,” she added. “I have so much in the pipeline for my reign, including the release of my next country single this Spring.”