Kimberley Dayle smiles when she remembers the first
time someone likened her to Britney Spears. 'It was four years ago and I was
singing in my local nightclub when a fan came over and said I was better than
the real thing' she says. 'I thought they were kidding until other people
started saying similar things. So when I spotted an ad for impersonators, I
decided to give it a go.'
Covering her red hair with a blonde wig, agents
were blown away by her vocals and she bagged the job. 'After that, I decided to
take it more seriously' says Kimberley, 24. 'I tried to catch any show Britney
was on and read every magazine she was in. I started buying similar clothes,
dyed my hair blonde, got a fake tan and even had my teeth whitened.
'People just couldn't get enough of Britney. She
was hugely popular and, as a result, I began earning almost £5,000 a month
impersonating her around Europe.' But it came at a price...
OFF THE RAILS
'Britney was known for her toned body, so I had to
cut my diet and up my fitness to achieve the same look,' says Kimberley. I'd eat
four tablespoons of cereal for breakfast, an apple and Ryvita for lunch and a
salad for dinner, not to mention going to the gym five days a week. In three
months, I went from 9st 4lb and a size 10 to 8st 8lb and a size 6.' However, her career was thrown into chaos as Britney's
personal life began to unravel. 'It was November 2006 and Britney had filed for
a divorce from Kevin Federline,' Kimberley says. 'She was piling on weight.' But
it wasn't until three months later that Kimberley realised how serious things had
become.
'I'd just finished a show and was heading off stage
when someone yelled: "Are you going to shave your hair off now?" I
didn't have a clue what they meant until I saw the pictures of her with a shaved head. 'I was stunned,
but worried. If Britney went off the rails, what did that mean for me?' Sure
enough, as Britney's career crumbled, so did Kimberley's. 'It was scary how
quickly it happened/ she remembers.
And as the star
removed herself from the public eye, Kimberley began experiencing her own
depression. 'I was struggling to get by. I cancelled my gym membership and
spent most nights eating ice-cream and pasta. In 10 months I gained a stone,
going from a size 8 to a 12/
RELAUNCH
But when Britney began her huge comeback in
December 2008-the Circus album and tour - she also had a new look: super-slim.
I realised that while I'd been scoffing ice cream
in front of the TV, she'd been eating salads and working out with a personal
trainer. On the one hand I was happy she was back; on the other, terrified
because I looked nothing like her.'
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Suddenly, bookings for
Britney lookalikes were flooding in. 'I knew l had to lose weight fast,' says
Kimberley, 'so I threw myself into the Atkins and even took diet pills. But
nothing worked and after two months I resorted to starving myself for five
days.'
TAKING THE PLUNGE
Then, in January 2009, she got the call that would
change everything. Kimberley had been invited to the Reel Awards in Las Vegas
in May - a convention for the best impersonators in the world, attended by all
the top booking agents. I should've been jumping for joy, but I just couldn't
help feeling that my body would let me down,' she says.
With just eight weeks before the event, Kimberley
knew she had to take drastic action. She started researching plastic surgery
and discovered a site that arranged affordable ops abroad. I read about their
lipo treatments and how, for £3,000,1 could drop up to four dress sizes in two
hours,' she says. 'I didn't have to think twice.'
On 3 April, Kimberley withdrew all her savings and
flew to the clinic in Tunisia where she had six litres of fat sucked out of her
tummy, bottom, stomach, hips, back, inner thighs, outer thighs and knees. She
even gave the surgeon a picture of Britney so that he contoured her body in the
same way.
'I was so nervous I was shaking,' says Kimberley.
'When I came round, I was crying with the pain. I started panicking that I'd
made a mistake, but then I looked down at my body and could already see a
difference. I looked like a pin cushion, but I was dramatically thinner.'
It was two weeks before Kimberley could move freely
again, but having gone down from 10st 2lb and a size 14 to 8st 10lb and a size
8, she didn't care about a little discomfort. And on 23 May - seven weeks after
surgery - she took to the Las Vegas stage to unveil her new, post-surgery body.
The response was amazing. I gave the best show because I felt so incredible,' she says. 'Now, I'm hoping that an agent saw me
and wants to sign me. But even if they don't, I can't complain - I'm more
confident than ever. I'm so grateful Britney recovered because it meant I got
my body back, too.' ©
For more information about surgery abroad, visit lindabriggs.co.uk.
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