Pole Fitness Saved My Life

Depressed Kerry Derham cut her wrists after crippling debts and a volatile relationship shattered her self-esteem.

The 31-year-old was so overweight and miserable that she couldn’t bear to look at herself in the mirror.

But after taking up pole dancing as a hobby, Kerry discovered a sense of empowerment that helped her turn her life around – losing FIVE STONE in the process and dropping six dress sizes.

Now Kerry, 31, owns her own pole-dancing and fitness business, hopes she can help other women dance their worries away.

The personal trainer, said: “Pole dancing saved my life.

“It makes you feel empowered and sexy and gives you such a sense of being. 

“It’s your time to shine and forget about all of the things that are dragging you down.

“I was in such a bad place the doctors tried putting me on anti-depressants but I decided I didn’t want to take them.

“I had cervical cancer at 21 and had part of my cervix taken out. I didn’t survive cancer to give up on myself a few years later.

“Pole dancing gave me a new sense of fun and confidence that I hadn’t felt for so long.”

An unhappy relationship with an ex left Kerry feeling depressed in her early twenties.

She began to comfort eat to deal with her unhappiness and saw her weight soar from ten to 14 stone - which doctors said was severely overweight for her five foot six frame. 

The final straw came in 2009 when Kerry, then 24, lost her home after falling into financial difficulties.

Kerry said: “I had people around me who were just out to take advantage of me and through no fault of my own I ended up in serious debt.

“I had always paid all of my bills and mortgage on time so to have bailiffs knocking on my door was horrible.  

“People who I had supported financially just disappeared and left me penniless.

“I couldn’t see a way out.”

In a desperate plea for help, Kerry cut her wrists, but luckily the wounds weren’t deep and the self-harm was the wake up call she needed.

The next day Kerry visited a doctor and was prescribed antidepressants – but she decided to tackle her demons alone.

She said: “I didn’t want to rely on drugs or pills to make me happy. I knew it was something I had to do for myself.” 

It was then that she committed to taking on a new hobby to boost her confidence.

Kerry said: “I looked at myself in a mirror and I just didn’t like what I saw anymore. I didn’t know who that person was staring back at me.

“I don’t even know why I decided on pole I just thought it was something different and I’d give it a try.

“I’d seen on TV that pole dancing was a good form of fitness and as soon as I tried it I knew I was on to something - I was totally addicted."

“It was challenging and it was fun and it was my escape from everything else that was going on in my life and I needed that.

“You’re having so much fun that you don’t even realise you’re working out until the next day or the day after when you feel a bit stiff as your muscles recover.

“The pounds just started to fall off.

“I love it. It makes me feel alive. Fitness saved my life.”

Kerry went from a size 20 to a size eight in under a year after taking up the vigorous hobby and has seen her confidence soar as a result.

She said: “Rather than feel fat and jiggly I felt at ease and I didn’t feel like my body was disgusting for once."

In 2012, she decided to start her own fitness business, SimplyFit UK, teaching pole fitness classes and personal training.

Kerry’s business immediately took off, and at her busiest she was teaching up to 20 pole fitness classes a week.

Kerry said: “I decided just to go for it. 

“I had £64 in my bank account at the time and I built myself up from nothing.

“I’m lucky that I’m comfortable financially but I don’t do it for the money – this is my dream.”

Now Kerry, who shrank from 14 stone to nine stone, is at the top of her game and has even entered the bikini round of a bodybuilding competition, which will take place in June.

She has now scaled back her fitness classes to focus on her own expanding muscles and hopes to eventually be a sponsored athlete.

Kerry, who has won a string of accolades, including Best Loved Personal Trainer in Worthing 2014, said: “As I started to get fitter I started to think about other ways I could push myself.

“I really want to do something bigger and better. I wanted to put myself in the hardest thing I could think of."

Despite her new-found confidence and trim figure, Kerry has been single for three years and says that men are put off by her rock-solid physique.

The fitness fanatic trains up to six days a week, but admits her rippling muscles often intimidate men.

She said: “Guys find me very intimidating because I own my own business, because I lift really heavy in the gym and because I go hard all the time.

“I’m a girly girl at heart but when I’m lifting huge weights I can see the men in the gym get a bit scared. 

“No-one wants a girlfriend who can lift more than them but I’m happy either way.

“Pole dancing turned my life around and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”