‘Too fat’ Stringfellows girl put on gardening leave

Stringfellows nightclub has been accused of pressurising its dancers by a former stripper who says she was told to "lose a lot of weight".

The 20-year-old claims women are often put on two-week "gardening leave" if they are deemed to be overweight. Rose Tyler (who has withheld her real name) began dancing at the Covent Garden club last June.

She moved to London from Plymouth after completing her A-levels and saved the £300 she was making each night to put towards her living costs for a computer science degree at Newcastle University.

But in December she says she was given an ultimatum by Stringfellows management, adding: "I was told to take two months off and lose a lot of weight, and then come back to re-audition. It was awful.

"I'm curvy but I had never been told to my face that I was overweight. All over Christmas I was devastated. I didn't want to eat my Christmas dinner as I thought it would make me fat."

Rose said she believes many of the women are "struggling with some kind of eating disorder", adding: "For a woman to have your weight criticised and then have to come back to audition, it makes you feel like nothing."

A spokeswoman for eating disorder charity Beat said this kind of pressure could lead to health problems in women.

Peter Stringfellow admitted his dancers had to achieve certain standards but denied they were under undue pressure.

He said: "If a girl goes on holiday and comes back more overweight than is expected they will be told.
"If Wayne Rooney came back from holiday a stone heavier then it's unlikely he'd get back into the Manchester United first team. A girl can be overweight but we're not looking for skinny thin.

"Cheryl Cole, for example, would be turned down because she is too thin. Voluptuous will win over stick thin every time."
Standards: Peter Stringfellow denies his dancers are under pressure to be thin