Cheryl Fernandez-Versini claims being overweight is unhealthy - weeks after criticising body-shaming

The X-Factor judge says telling someone who is obese they look 'curvy' or 'great' sends the wrong message

The X-Factor judge reacted angrily to comments about her weight last month (Getty Images)

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has claimed being overweight is unhealthy, a month after declaring the practice of body shaming should be made “illegal”.

The X-Factor judge reacted angrily to comments about her weight last month after an Instagram user described her as a “bag of bones” and tabloids published stories describing her as underweight.

Fernandez-Versini said her weight loss was caused by the stress of losing her father-in-law and bemoaned a culture where it is “acceptable” to comment negatively on a woman’s appearance. “Body shaming has to stop,” she told the Evening Standard magazine. “It’s bulls**t. Something has to be done, changed, even if it’s done in law.”

In a second interview with InStyle magazine this week, she responded to speculation about her weight by accusing anyone who commented on her figure of “crazy double standards” and suggesting being overweight is a health issue.

"You'd never be allowed to say to somebody, 'Oh, you look a bit fat'," she said.

"And being overweight is unhealthy - it's actually a bad message to tell someone who is obese that they look 'curvy' or 'great'.

"But you know what? After this length of time, there's nothing I can hear about myself that I haven't already heard."