I was delighted to see some stories cropping up praising gorgeous curvy celebrities – it’s such a refreshing change. Apparently the fuller figure is back – woo hoo! Just take a look at Mad Men star Christina Hendricks. All I can say is… wow!

Christina loves her curves (and who can blame her?)

‘I used to say that I had opposite anorexia,’ she laughs.

‘Every time I’d take my clothes off, I’d look in the mirror and think: “I feel like a woman and I like myself this way.”‘

Can we have some more women who feel that way about their bodies please?

Actually yes we can! Kate Winslet, Beyonce… there are whole galleries of gorgeous curvy girls here and here.

I still get pretty mad at how much emphasis the media puts on a woman’s weight. I can’t believe how much attention Jessica Simpson has been getting for her new fuller figure. She looks fabulous – and she’s clearly so much happier now. Yet people just can’t wait to stick their oar in and make their horrible pronouncements. Although I am glad to see so many people have also spoken up in her defence, including her sister Ashlee, her trainer and actress Kim Kardashian.

Honestly the amount of coverage her figure has generated is unbelievable – especially given everything that’s going on in the world today. So she’s made the decision not to trade fun for being skinny. I say good for her!

Jessica has got everything perfectly in proportion… I just wish the media would too.

Well Happy New Year everyone – hope you’ve all had a great break and are not feeling too depressed if you’re back at work.

Some good news to start the New Year – according to new research, curvy girls of a dress size 14 rate their happiness levels higher than ladies of any other dress size, and the second happiest are size 12 ladies.

A spokeswoman for Special K, who conducted the poll with 3,000 women, said:

“It’s great to discover that being a size zero doesn’t necessarily bring you happiness.

“Our research shows that the curvier size 14 woman is much more comfortable with their shape and has a happier outlook on life.”

So if you’ve made new year’s resolutions to get super skinny, remember, it’s not the key to happiness – curvy girls have more fun!

I don’t know about you but America’s Next Top Model is totally my guilty pleasure (Pete can’t stand it but I let him watch the footie so it’s just tough!) As sad as I am that the series (or ‘cycle 10′ as they like to say) has now drawn to a close, I just have to express my pleasure that the winner this time is a plus size fashion model. Hurray!

The beautiful and bubbly 20 year old Whitney Thompson beat off stiff competition from Anya in the final to claim the title and the deal with Cover Girl. Well done Whitney! They’ve had plus size contestants in the past on ANTM but none have ever got too far, let alone all the way. In fact, it sometimes feels like the plus size girls are put in as a token gesture, stunning as they are. But with Whitney’s win, and host Tyra Banks herself having a gorgeous curvy figure too, hopefully this is a sign that the tide is finally turning and we will start to see more and more plus size fashion models on our screens and magazines.

Marisota has used normal sized women as models from the very beginning – hence the presence of me and girls!

My favourite part of ANTM is the photoshoots – I love to see the transformations. I have to say I’m pretty surprised how well some of the photos turn out sometimes with the crazy things they do!

Speaking of photoshoots (and transformations) keep your eyes on the Marisota blog in the next few weeks for a sneak preview of the latest Marisota shoot, when me and the girls were whisked away to model the latest Marisota plus size fashion collection.

Here is the moment of truth for Whitney, ANTM’s first ever plus size winner:

What a ‘fierce’ walk!

Yes, that’s right it seems that the big and well-developed human brain could only evolve into being thanks to the development woman’s broad child-bearing hips. Without those curves we could never have evolved much past the level of chimpanzees. Or looking at it the other way round, women’s curvy figures came about for the good of the human race. Read the full story here.

I’ve not actully seen any evidence yet that curvy women have bigger brains themselves, but I’ve sure that conclusion is just around the corner.

One woman who loves to celebrate the curvy woman’s shape is Caryn Franklin. Her designer plus size clothing collection at Marisota was created to work with a woman’s curves – not hide them.

Check out these sexy Caryn Franklin plus size dresses and plus size coat from Marisota - now that’s what I call curves!

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It seems the tide is turning somewhat on the super skinny phenomenon – something I’m only too glad to hear. I’m very proud of my plus size figure thank-you very much!

Lots of gorgeous ladies have been speaking out about how they love their curves. Take the stunning Scarlett Johansson:

“There are a lot of actors around Hollywood who are just too thin for my taste.”

“I don’t understand this obsession for being stick-thin. I could never be like that – it’s just not my body shape.”

“I would never want to lose my curves, because curves are what make women look like women. They are what make you sexy.”

Then there’s Jodie Kidd, who in my opinion looks much better now she’s not so model skinny. With all that exercise she’s doing on Strictly Come Dancing she’s obviously much fitter and healthier now too. And it’s not just the ladies that love it – it’s their other halves too!

“He absolutely loved my new cleavage”, she said of her partner Thomas George. “I’d never seen my boobs like that. And I don’t think he had either.”

And let’s not forget everyone’s favourite songstress Adele. I love the way she’s sticking to her plus size shape.

“I’m really mouthy about not having the Hollywood look. Everyone asks me ‘Why don’t you feel pressured to get the Hollywood look?’ and I’m like, ‘Because I don’t',” she told Heat.”I mean, I quite like my eyes and my lips. I don’t like my double chin or my gut, but I don’t not like them enough to do something about it.”

That’s the right attitude if you ask me. If you are happy and healthy – and in Adele’s case beautiful to boot then what’s the problem? Life’s too short! Especially when there’s fab fashionable plus size clothes out there to suit you like at Marisota. Marisota’s plus size clothes are made to work with your curves.

I can see Adele in one of these stunning plus size tunic tops from Anna Scholz at Marisota:

Bold and bright like her big and bubbly personality – and so flattering for plus size women.

The other night I finally caved in to Chloe’s pestering and took her to see High School Musical 3 with a couple of her pals. Pete had taken the boys to the footy so I thought we’d have a girls’ trip out. Chloe and all her school friends are obsessed with the whole thing. Or actually no I’ll rephrase that. Chloe and all her school friends are obsessed with Zac Efron.

Who? I hear you cry. Well he’s the heartthrob of the whole thing (and quite tasty too I might add. I hope Pete’s not reading this. He’s FAR too young for me anyway!). It was a nice feel-good film – and the girls gazed at Zac Efron to their heart’s content. (Whilst I pretended to be much more interested in the popcorn. Ahem. Actually I hope Chloe isn’t reading this either.)

Anyway whilst doing a bit of research for work/ googling Zac Efron I found out something that made me like him even more. Here’s a quote I found from Zac:

“I don’t know the exact measurements but I like curvy girls – girls with hips… I don’t always find myself dating super-skinny girls. It’s not all about what you look like, it’s so much more. I know it sounds really cheesy but it’s more about what’s on the inside when you’re dating a girl.”

It’s so refreshing to hear that he likes curvy girls (and I don’t mean because I fancy my chances!) Girls these days are under so much pressure to be skinny, even girls as young as Chloe. I want Chloe to grow up knowing she can be whatever size she is – I don’t want her starving herself. Plus size girls often look so much healthier to my mind anyway – and I’m very proud of my plus size curves thank-you very much.

There’s so much choice of plus size fashion around these days too. There used to be nothing! Marisota always has something to fit the bill for me: it’s plus size fashion that’s neither frumpy nor fashion victim!

Anyway got to go now, got more ‘research’ to do…