TV preview: My Big Fat Fetish

I'm not fattist, thinnist or in-the-middle-ist, but something tells me that Channel 4's new documentary, My Big Fat Fetish, which follows a group of women called 'gainers', is bound to raise a few eyebrows when it hits our screens tonight.

A 'gainer' is a term for a woman who is paid to overeat and gain weight. In recent years, magazines and online websites featuring fat women known as 'Big Beautiful Women', have become more and more popular.

While some of us try eagerly to bust the odd pound or two, these women enjoy putting on weight and they openly admit their love for their fat bodies. But, it's not just the women who like their plumpness - the show discovers that there are millions of men around the world who admire them and are even willing to pay to watch these women eat online!

Now, getting paid to eat the odd Mars bar now and again is something that I wouldn't mind doing!

But, for the women in My Big Fat Fetish, being fat is something they take very seriously. In fact, they revolve their entire lifestyles around piling on the pounds.

The show follows four women in both the USA and UK - you can meet them below:

Name: Kitt
Weight: 20 stone
Kitt is a rising star in the world of 'Big Beautiful Women' and gainers, weighing 20 stone and is getting close to her ideal weight of 21.5 stones. Growing up, Kitt was a tomboy and felt sexless but she always admired big fat women. Now aged 21 she's a dental assistant, but in her spare time she models in magazines under the name 'Stuffing Kitt' and posts videos online to subscription websites, where men pay money to watch her eating food. Kitt is not the only one who gains sexual pleasure from gaining weight, so does her boyfriend Wes. He regularly feeds Kitt food and rubs her belly and although she admits gaining isn't normal, she believes it is better to live out her sexual drive rather than to repress it.

Name: Reenaye
Weight: 29 stone
Reenaye used to be a gainer; once she reached 29 stone she decided to stop and work to maintain this weight instead. After eight years as a model she now runs a gaining website and recruits women to model online. One of her models is British girl Lizzie from Leeds...

Name: Lizzie
Weight: 18 stone
Lizzie is a big bubbly blonde just starting out on her modelling career. On the show, she goes abroad to Florida to take part in her first photo-shoot and video for Reenaye's website. Taking Lizzie under her wing, Reenaye explains that keeping in touch with the fan base is vital to making money.

Name: Patty
Weight: 44 stone
Patty was the one-time Queen of the gaining world, weighing 44 stone. Tragically she is now too heavy to walk unaided and lives as a semi-invalid, virtually immobile and requires 24/7 care from her son Richard. When we see her on the show, Patty hasn't gone outside for six weeks but she still performs 'squashings' for paying punters where she sits and bounces on them.

My Big Fat Fetish hits our screens on Tuesday 22 May on Channel 4 at 22:00