A former dancer who was obsessed with her figure and suffered from mental health issues has been crowned Miss London Curve 2017.

Emily Diapre, 23, hit rock bottom while training at a dance school, but since embracing her curvy figure, has a new-found confidence.

The Miss British Beauty Curve finalist from Sidcup went from a size six at her smallest - despite being five foot nine-and-a-half - to her current size 18, and says she's never been happier.

Her problems started after gaining a dance scholarship, where she says she was encouraged to be skinny.

Aspiring actress Emily said: "I've been a dancer since the age of three, it's something I've always been passionate about.

"I got a scholarship to a dance school and music theatre college when I was 17, and during that time I was a normal size - not a 'dancer' size.

"I was encouraged to be skinny, and made to feel uncomfortable about my body, like I wouldn't succeed unless I lost weight.

"I was so unhappy and I was really unwell, I wasn't eating at all and it affected my mental health.

"I was very skinny, I was obsessed with my eating and it was unhealthy - I would make myself sick and not eat.

"I had to stop going in the end - I didn't want to go in because I couldn't function, I wasn't eating or sleeping.

"I didn't want to live like that, and over time, I accepted that I would always be a fuller size.

"I'm pursuing a career in acting and normal people need to be represented, we're not all born incredibly skinny, I'm naturally broad and I'm proud of my figure now."

After leaving dance school, Emily moved to a theatre school.

She says she expected the attitude towards body shape to be different, but still felt the stigma of her normal sized body.

Emily added: "I started to feel more comfortable, and I told my teachers that I was going to be myself and that I had no interested in being a skinny ballerina.

"My quality of life has improved so much since I changed my thinking.

"I didn't realise how much my life had been overtaken by thoughts about food and what other people thought.

"It was such a mental state, and it's been a weight from my shoulders."

Emily says after turning to mental health charity MIND for help with her anxiety, her confidence hugely improved.

She now wants to encourage girls to accept their bodies and get help by reaching out to mental health charities.

Emily works in event management at The Beaverwood Club, Chislehurst, and often supports mental health charities through her work there.

She says joining Miss British Beauty Curve has helped her come to terms with her size, and has encouraged her to help other young women do the same.

Emily said: "I was so proud when I won Miss London Curve.

"It's given me such a good platform to speak to young adults in schools, and people take me seriously with the title.

"It's helped me so much to join a likeminded family of women who are still active and healthy, but embrace their size.

"I still have thoughts about food, but I'm still active, I walk to work, walk the dog, and eat healthily.

"People need to remember that healthy doesn't mean skinny, and I don't want people to think they need to be skinny - people can die from that."

The final of Miss British Beauty Curve is at Hazlett Theatre, Maidstone, on August 5.