The story of a 24-year-old Maltese woman fat-shamed by a shopper in Brighton has gone viral and is being picked up by British media.
Jessica Portelli, who dropped in at a shop in the seaside village to buy a bathing suit was pleasantly surprised when she noticed that the store carried bikinis in her size.
She immediately picked a colourful striped set and lined up behind other shoppers.
“You can be any size and look good. Confidence is what makes you sexy and not just being a size 6.
Ms Portelli was however stunned when a fellow shopper quipped that “girls like her should not wear a bikini”.
“Initially, I thought it was some friend, pulling my leg… but I just told her I’ll prove her wrong in two minutes,” the young woman told timesofmalta.com.
She changed into the bikini and quickly knocked on the fellow shopper’s cubicle to make her point, but soon realised she could use her experience to encourage her own friends who might have gone through something similar.
"Confidence is what makes you sexy and not just being a size 6," wrote Ms Portelli. Source: Facebook
So she uploaded a photo that she initially snapped to send to a friend of hers, on her Facebook page.
“I don't usually post such pictures of myself on Facebook however what happened today should be shared to raise some awareness.
“The girl at the store today said that ‘girls like me’ shouldn't wear a bikini. Well girl, let me tell you something, I’m happy with myself and my big tummy with tiger stripes.
“But you could have said the same thing to the girl who finally got out there and had the courage to wear a bikini and you just killed her confidence with one stupid comment.
“You can be any size and look good. Confidence is what makes you sexy and not just being a size 6.
“Thank you for fat shaming me, thanks to you I got an awesome discount on my bikini,” her post read, signed by “fat, confident girl”.
Ms Portelli explained that she had friends of all sizes who were not comfortable with how they looked.
“It took me a while to get where I am today. I too lacked confidence some years back, until I realised that I did not have to prove anything to anyone but myself,” she said.
Ms Portelli was soon encouraged to make her Facebook post public so that it could be shared, and so far, it has been shared more than 1,300 times. Her story is also being covered by the British media.