09 Jun 2025
“Unapologetically taking up space is an act of rebellion in itself against capitalist diet culture.”
That is the message one St Albans actor and musician wants to make loud and clear for anybody worried about not have a summer-ready body.
Anna MacLeod Franklin is passionate about breaking down stigma surrounding body size and believes that every shape should be celebrated.
“Isn’t it time to leave this nonsense of ‘othering’ fat bodied people in the last century where it belongs?” she said.
The summer is a particularly stressful time for people who are not happy with the way they look, as they might feel more self-conscious revealing parts of themselves they don’t like.
Anna believes that everyone is welcome and everybody has a stage-ready body.
She said: “We’re generally obsessed with whatever the media wants us to be obsessed with, often what they want us to buy. The messaging towards women has always been ‘You are flawed’ because what do we do when we think we’re flawed? We buy stuff to fix ourselves.
“Women of our generation are still traumatised from being told that a size 10 Bridget Jones was fat, and that that made it okay for her to be an object of ridicule.”
The mum-of-one said she thinks in some ways it’s easier for someone like her – who has always stood outside the norm, and always had to fight the tide of being treated with less dignity than straight-sized people – to stand up and refuse to accept that as a narrative.
Anna is part of three musical acts – The Sundaes, recently formed Flabba, an ABBA tribute group and Ruby Lark, a jazz solo performance: “When we’re doing a Sundaes gig at one of the big holiday parks, nothing makes me prouder than when we see gangs of little girls in the audience copying our dance moves and deciding whether they’re Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla.
“And they don’t remotely care that we’re fat and middle-aged. They just see three women in sparkly dresses singing and dancing their hearts out and having a great time and they want to join in.
“It’s incredibly healing for my eight-year-old self who would never have seen a body like mine onstage, represented in a positive way.”
The aim of the Sundaes is to deliver a decadent, dazzling, and
deliciously hilarious vocal comedy trio, dishing up disco like you’ve never heard before.
Anna, who is a former Beaumont School pupil, said: “Three larger-than-life personalities of Chocolate Sundae, Strawberry Sundae, and Vanilla Sundae serve up glitter, glamour, and high-octane harmonies in a body-positive celebration of soul, sass, and sequins.
“We lean into the comedy because people expect fat people to be funny, but we always aim for people to realise about halfway through the show that we’ve absolutely earned our stripes as professional singers and entertainers.”
The actor and musician said she does care about health and practices healthy behaviours such as eating nutritious meals, moving a lot and making sure she drinks plenty of water.
Bandmate Keris Lea and Anna are both six stone smaller than they used to be “because obviously there’s a balance” Anna said: “But if you’re fit enough to sing and dance our epic 11-minute-long Tina Turner medley, which we are, then I think we’re fine in the bodies we’ve got, thank you very much.”
What does she think about the increasing number of people paying for injections to lose weight?
“I wish them happiness and peace in their bodies, and I hope they find it. But I really do believe that it’s in your mind, not in a syringe full of chemicals.”
Anna said she gets positive feedback from women of all shapes and sizes saying they feel empowered to be themselves and accept who they are when they see her performing.
