The Orpington couple who only wear clothes when they have to

Simon and Helen Berriman, both 48, love their naturist lifestyle - only donning trousers and jumpers to venture outside and at home during the chillier winter months.

The couple find stripping off liberating and say the cold UK weather doesn't put them off.

But it wasn't always that way - when the pair met in 2015, Simon was a proud naturist and Helen was "against" it.

The couple, from Orpington, even came to blows when Helen got home from work to find Simon naked at his desk and he agreed to cover up while she was around.

But a turning point came in 2020, during lockdown when they were forced to stay at home, and Helen came around to the idea of Simon walking around the house naked.

Simon even managed to persuade Helen to join him in his nude endeavours and now they go starkers on holiday and at festivals - and want to combat preconceptions of naturists being "perverts" or "weirdos".

Helen, a writer, said: "At first I was so against it.

"I had a real issue with it.

"He told me early on that he was a naturist and lived a clothing-optional lifestyle but I had no idea what that was.

"One day I came home early from work and he was naked at his desk and we had a massive argument and we agreed he would cover up while I was around.

"My eureka moment came at a reverse life drawing class - I realised my preconceptions of naturism were wrong.

"It wasn't a bunch of weirdos, people weren't objectifying people, it wasn't a place to perve on people.

"People were there doing normal things without their clothes on and I thought that was really nice.

"I took my dress off and everyone carried on doing what they were going - it was quite unremarkable."

Simon says he has always led a "clothing-optional lifestyle" and from a young age preferred to be completely nude.

He said: "As a teen, I would come home from school go to my room and take off my school uniform.

"I wouldn't bother putting anything else on, I would stay in my room and play on my computer.

"I have never had a problem with being naked.

"When I was older I came across the World Naked Bike Ride and when I was there I came across people who called themselves naturists - that was the first time I had come up against the term.

"I came away thinking 'that is me, that is what I want to do'."

Helen wasn't a fan of naturism before she met Simon and during the start of their relationship.

But the tipping point came during lockdown in 2020, the UK was experiencing a heatwave and Simon bought Helen a bikini.

Helen said: "It was really unseasonably warm and because it was lockdown I didn't force him to be dressed.

"We were in a situation where it was very hot and the other aspect of lockdown was you change your thought process a little bit.

"Life is a bit too short, nobody else had a problem with this.

"I have always had body issues, yoyo dieting and trying to conform to societal standards.

"Because it was hot Simon bought me a bikini to wear in the garden - that was a big deal in itself."

After lockdown, Simon got involved in a normalising nudity project, and the pair went along to a reverse naked drawing class - where naked people would draw someone who is clothed.

After the class, Helen realised that her preconception of naturism was "wrong" and took her dress off.

Helen said: "I thought 'I get it now this is really nice'.

"Nobody is perving on you, you don't have to look a certain way "I came away with a completely different understanding and rebooked to return for weekends.

"That was when I realised I was comfortable and relaxed and this is for me."

Simon said one of the big misconceptions of naturism is that they will be naked constantly and don't own any clothes.

He said: "The whole point is it is freedom - the freedom of deciding if you want to wear clothing or not because you don't care about being seen naked.

"There is a difference between wanting to be seen naked and not caring.

"It is an irrelevance whether I am nude or not.

"Naturism isn't something you do, it is not a hobby - it is a way of living."

Simon and Helen said that they want people to try naturism and understand it isn't weird or a space where people go to have sex.

Simon said: "Society has a very gymnophobic attitude and while it is not being spoken about and normalised - gymnophobic attitudes will remain.

"There are a lot of naturists in this country but they will lie about where they are going because of the judgement they will face.

"I liken it back to veganism - not that long again people were really ridiculed if they said they were vegan.

"But now vegan has become an ethical choice."

Helen added: "It is anything unusual or different, anything outside social conformity is weird at all.

"We're banging on about it because it isn't weird, we are a minority group that needs to be understood more.

"To us being naked it perfectly normal, this is who we are."