Shut Ins: Britain’s Fattest People viewers brand husband of a 30st woman her ‘servant’ and ‘feeder’

Shut Ins: Britain’s Fattest People viewers branded the husband of a 30st woman her ‘servant’ and ‘feeder’ after he was shown fetching her food, and pandering to every whim.  

In last night’s episode of the Channel 4 show, Samantha, 35, from Hartlepool, told how she felt too ashamed to go out, and left the responsibilities of family life to her husband Keith, who she has been with for the past 14 years.

During the day while home alone, the mother-of-three revealed she orders in a takeaway for lunch and all day long, grazes on high-calorie snacks, while in the evening, Keith is on hand to take late-night orders. 

‘I can’t blame my husband or anybody else because I know I did the damage and I put the food in my mouth,’ she explained. ‘I am the world’s biggest critic to myself, I really am.’ 

However, those who tuned in had a different opinion, with many believing Keith was at fault for delivering her food – at one point handing her a whole tray of calorie-laden desserts. 

‘Is this her husband or servant?’ asked one, while a second penned: ‘He’s a FEEDER. Make her get off her a*** and bring her own dishes out ffs.’ 

However, by the end of the show, Samantha managed to turn things around and shed enough weight to be approved for bariatric surgery, going on to lose 8st.  

A third added: ‘8 desserts are not helping her,’ while a fourth commented: ‘Keith taking late night orders!’

In one scene, Samantha’s husband could be seen delivering an ice cream cone and chocolates to his wife, who shouted her orders from her bed upstairs.

‘I’m there for her all the time – what she wants and what she needs,’ Keith admitted. 

Keith, who works in a bakery, added that he’s Samantha’s carer, house husband, family man – and even has to help his wife with her personal care. 

‘This is the time I feel like I’ve got a carer,’ confessed Samantha. ‘It shouldn’t be that way really. He’s my husband – not my carer.’  

The documentary followed Samantha, who felt that her issues with food and her weight had made her life intolerable, and for the last three years, she told how she’d just shut herself away.

‘I’ve just shut myself away,’ explained Samantha, who struggled to even move around her own home. ‘Slowly but surely, it’s just got worse and worse.’

‘Sometimes I just don’t want to answer my phone, let alone answer the door. Everything is just becoming too much for me now. I’m only 35 but I feel like I’m 90.’ 

Samantha explained that she struggles to dress her 62 inch bust, 57 inch waist and 72 inch hips.  

‘I hate putting clothes on because I just stress,’ she said. ‘When I get dressed clothes get chucked everywhere and I call myself names because I think, “What have you done?” 

And by hiding herself away, Samantha revealed that she shields herself from the taunts of others.

‘I’ve had some pretty awful things said to me in the past about my weight,’ she explained. ‘Like a fat monster, or “look at the size of her.” I’m too ashamed to go anywhere, for anybody to look at me.’     

Samantha, who counts a doner kebab as one of her guilty pleasures, said: ‘They are like one of my favourites. They remind me of being a kid. I love spaghetti bolognese. Crisps…they’re my absolute demons. I can just eat and eat them.’  

The only time Samantha would leave her home is when her mother Julie would take her over to her house. But Julie revealed she never worried about her daughter.

‘Sammy was very flighty, happy go lucky, very chatty and loving. She never had any issues with food at all,’ Julie said. 

However, at 17 and pregnant, Samantha moved out to live with her partner, but when baby Charlotte, now 18, was six-weeks-old, the relationship broke up. 

‘Food became a comfort for me. It became my friend,’ said Samantha. ‘The more food I could eat, the better I felt.’ 

An upset Julie added: ‘It’s heartbreaking. It’s awful to watch my daughter suffering the way she is. It’s an eating disorder, isn’t it? 

‘Her health is deteriorating in other ways. My biggest fear is having to bury my daughter.’ 

As well as daughter Charlotte – Samantha, whose lack of activity and weight has resulted in numerous health conditions including acid reflux, arthritis and gall stones – also has two school-aged children – Max and Mia.

‘I’m not the best mum because I can’t do for my children what I should be doing,’ she said. ‘It’s just awful they think, “My mum’s in bed…we’ll just leave her there.”‘

‘It shouldn’t be that way…but it’s just the norm for them at the minute.’ 

Samantha also told how she experiences severe headaches caused by intercranial hypertension, which sometimes would leave her in bed for days at a time, and  was warned it could even result in her going blind. 

However, with a grandchild on the way, Samantha revealed she was determined to break old habits and change her life. 

After seeing the surgeon, she was tasked with losing around 5kg over a five week period to prove she was ready to break her addiction to food.  

Samantha was asked to stick to around a 1,000 calorie- a-day – half of the average daily intake, and a quarter of her usual quantity.

Crisps and takeaways were banned in favour of a more nutritious meal plan. But a few days in, Samantha started to struggle.

‘My emotions are up and down,’ she said. ‘It’s frustrating one minute and the next it’s, “Come on we can do this.”‘

Speaking of a few slip ups, she admitted to having a couple of sips of fizzy pop.

But a trip back to the surgeon revealed she’d managed to lose an impressive 9kg – almost double the weight she was expected to – and she was offered surgery. 

But one week into her new diet, Samantha had a major wobble.

Keith revealed: ‘Sammy fell off the wagon over the weekend. She had a couple of drinks, few chocolates and a chicken kebab. It is hard, we’re arguing about it.’ 

But with three weeks left before surgery, the mother-of-three managed to pull herself back on track and was determined to prove she could change her ways – and stuck to an 800 calorie-a-day liver-shrinking diet and did more exercise. 

After four weeks on her low-calorie diet, Samantha managed to shed another 10lbs in weight, meaning she was cleared for surgery.

The surgeon successfully gave her an operation which made her stomach smaller and bypassed a part of her stomach and small bowel. 

A year later, it was revealed Samantha had already shed nearly a quarter of her starting weight of over 30st, and is now 8st lighter.

‘I’m absolutely blown away by the weight I’ve lost,’ she said. ‘It’s crackers. I’m changing all the time. It’s not just on the scales you see your victories, it’s how you look and how you feel.’

Come the end of the episode, Samantha, who was a size 32 but is now a size 22, revealed she was delighted to have lost 12 inches from her waist, 10 inches from her bust and 15 inches from her hips.