Size 16 bride chooses her waistline over hair - paying for skinny jabs ahead of her wedding

Kimberly Maberly bought the GLP-1-class weight loss injections in October as she was sick of dodging jokes about her 'six chins' in comedy roast battles as a comedian and refuses to be a 'fat bride'.

The family of drugs known as GLP-1 RAs, originally developed to treat diabetes, are now often being used for weight loss as they were found to suppress a patient's appetite.

The 42-year-old, who tipped the scales at 17st and a dress size 22 at her heaviest, paid £220 for a month's worth of jabs from a licensed pharmacy after a consultation with her GP.

Comedy club owner Kimberly has dropped 4st but claims the jab has caused such severe hair loss to her thick blonde hair she's now forced to wear wigs.

Defiant Kimberly is still taking the jabs, claiming her hair will grow back, but the weight won't pile back on ahead of her 2026 nuptials to Andrew Fisher.

Kimberly, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said: "If the hair loss had been a side effect from day one, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it. I had chemotherapy to treat cervical cancer when I was 25 and at that time I didn't lose any hair off my head.

"I tortured it during lockdown, dying it every colour, and after all that my hair was fine - it was nice and thick. It's now at a point where if I'm in the shower it literally falls out in clumps.

"I don't wash my hair every time I shower now and whenever I don't have a wig on, everything is plaited and hidden or I've got little caps I wear. I don't like my partner seeing my hair anymore. I know he doesn't care, but I do.

"I was FaceTiming my sister who is a hairdresser and showing her and I just started crying. I was looking underneath and it was patchy. I daren't get anyone to check my full head because I don't want to know the full extent.

"The way I look at it is that my hair's going to grow back, but the weight isn't going to come back on. I'm so much happier now at the size I am - even if what that takes is a few months like this."

Bride-to-be Kimberly, now 13st, was inspired to drop the weight due to being under the spotlight in work and also ahead of her wedding next year.

Kimberly said: "I looked and felt awful and I wanted to look good for my wedding in July 2026 - I don't want to be a fat bride.

"I did diet clubs and slimming shakes but the results were always mediocre. I was drawn to [weight loss jabs] as it seemed like a quick fix. I do roast battles at the comedy club and one of the things that people mentioned all the time was my weight.

"When all you're looking at is your six chins, instead of going 'oh I got a few laughs there' that becomes another reason for wanting to lose weight."

Trying to see the positives about the unexpected side effect, Kimberly now dons a variety of colourful wigs to hide her hair loss. Kimberly said: "In May I thought 'what if I try a wig?' "That way I could carry on with the weight-loss injections and hide behind the wigs.

"I was really trying to make the most of my hair by wearing headbands, trying to part it differently so it didn't look so bad, but wigs have become part of my everyday as it got worse. It's a bit of fun and I can be different every day.

"My partner's loving it, he's been telling everyone he's getting a different girlfriend every day. He likes the pink wig, he says that one is his favourite.

"I decided I could either cry and moan about how little hair I've got or not, I'm just having fun with it and embracing it.

"I'm still taking it now and if I could go back to October and decide not to take it - I wouldn't change a thing. I'm getting so many compliments now about the way I look, people saying I look much healthier."

Now, Kimberly is on her last prescription, wanting to give her hair a year to recover ahead of the wedding. Kimberly said: "I'm aiming to lose the last stone before the big day without using skinny jabs.

"I'm not at my target weight, but I wanted a whole year off the jabs to recover my hair for the wedding. Even if I want a hair piece or extensions for the wedding day, I need to have more growth before that's possible.

"If I hadn't decided to wear wigs I would struggle loads more with my confidence, but I see it as a temporary measure to a problem that will go away.

"I'd say to other women suffering from hair loss to see it as another accessory to add to your look, plus you don't have to worry about bad hair days."