Siam Goorwich for Metro.co.uk




For years Gayla Neufeld battled against her body and her bulging belly, but now the 52-year-old (and her lovestruck hubby) claim her eight foot stomach is her biggest asset.

She may now be body confident and proud of her expansive midriff, but Gayla Neufeld didn’t always feel that way.

The 52-year-old, who claims that weight gain runs in her family, saying: ‘My mum was fat and my favourite sister was fat, as were my grandparents, my grandmother and my great-grandmother. She used to feel quite different about her body.


Gayla Neufeld in first grade in 1967 (Picture: Barcroft USA)

‘Growing up, kids at school would point and laugh at me and say “boom, boom, boom” with every step I took… I was really ashamed to be fat.’

However Gayla is ashamed no more.



After her first marriage collapsed due to her weight gain, Gayla turned to the internet for support and found a group of women calling themselves SSBBWs (super-sized big beautiful women).

From there, Gayla joined a forum called Bulge Chat, where she went on to meet her second husband Lance, a 54-year-old truck driver from Canada.



Gayla explained: ‘I had always thought the men who liked BBWs would be geeks in their mom’s basement but I was totally wrong.’

And now, as well as enjoying a happy marriage (and apparently healthy sex life) with Lance, Gayla has also carved out a successful career as a webcam model.



In fact, Gayla has found that her 96-inch belly has particular appeal to some men.

She proudly boasted: ‘They tell me it’s the perfect belly. They say it’s not marred or scarred and that they love the shape of it because it is a single belly. Some larger women they have a double-layer or a two-tier belly but mine is a single. That is really attractive to a lot of men.’



And although Gayla faces many health issues – including arthritis and thyroid problems – and has to use a motorised scooter to get around and book two seats when she flies, she explained that she’s never been happier.

She explained: ‘I allowed the world to dictate to me what I was supposed to look like and who I was supposed to be. By taking a body-positive image I have empowered myself to be who I am and to enjoy my life.’



She went on: ‘I’m not going to tell you that I never have bad days and I am not going to tell you that I don’t wish I was thin from time to time, but mostly I just enjoy being me… You’ve got to love who you are.’