REALITY TV SHOW CONTESTANT, CITIRA CORRIGAN TELLS US HOW SHE IS HOPING FOR A TRANSFORMATION IN BODY AND MIND WHILST PARTICIPATING ON STARWORLD’S FIT FOR FASHION
When thirty-three year-old Citira Corrigan auditioned for the new reality TV show Fit for Fashion she had one goal in mind: to transform her body.
The stay at home mum was overweight and struggling to control her eating habits. She was also battling with depression. The show was a real opportunity to take control and finally feel good about herself. ‘I want to be fit and strong again,’ Citira says. ‘I want to feel proud of my body.’
Citira used to be a group fitness instructor teaching Zumba, Pilates and outdoor boot camps. She enjoyed her work and loved feeling fit and healthy. She juggled her job around being a mother to her three precious boys who she describes as being ‘the lights of her life’. Everything was fine until 2012 when Citira fell and injured her back.
‘I was under an enormous amount of stress at work and instead of getting properly treated, I continued to train with my injury,’ Citira says. ‘The week after my accident I caught the flu. It took me weeks to recover and I was still in so much pain with my back. I couldn’t train and I couldn’t instruct and I realised then that I was physically broken.’
The injury and illness had a huge impact on Citira’s ability not only as a trainer but also as a mother. She decided to resign from the job she enjoyed, and take time to heal and focus on her family. Once she’d recovered, getting back into fitness was tough for Citira. She had gained weight, was struggling with depression and couldn’t find the motivation she needed to tackle her problems.
‘After I’d healed from my back injury my fitness level had completely declined,’ she says. ‘I would try to get back on track, but it never lasted long. I was inconsistent with exercise and I was overeating. I had gained a lot of fat and was still turning to food for comfort. I was depressed and it became a vicious cycle of trying to get on track, failing to stick to it and then soothing myself with food.
‘My confidence and self-esteem had deteriorated,’ she adds. ‘And I was struggling physically, mentally and emotionally. I needed something extraordinary in my life to motivate me to reclaim my fitness, confidence and physique. Fit for Fashion was the kismet.’
Citira was delighted when she gained a place on the show. She wants the experts to keep her motivated and help get her eating under control. ‘It’s hard,’ she says. ‘Because I used to do that for other people and now I realise that I’m the one that needs help.’
The only drawback to the show was leaving her family. ‘They are my rhyme and reason,’ Citira says. ‘I can’t fathom being apart from them for so long.’ Citira and her family have lived in Australia and the UK but now live in Singapore. ‘We’ve lived here for four years,’ she says. ‘I just have so much love for Singapore. This is home to my little family. The best part about living in Singapore is that it is so safe for children and ideal for raising a family.’
No doubt her family will be watching as Citira battles against eleven other contestants in the hope of winning the $100,000 cash prize. ‘I am quite competitive and I can be very focused and determined, so I’m hoping that combination will make me a worthy competitor. I guess more than anything I want to be challenged, because the truth is we don’t change unless we are challenged and I really, really need to make some changes.’
Although Citira is looking forward to the fitness trials, it’s the fashion part of the show that she says will be most challenging. ‘I think for the most part I’ll choose comfort over couture,’ she says. ‘I love anything that’s easy to wear and move in. I’m not really very brand or label driven. I’m a mamma of three so everything is budget driven and I will gravitate more to what I can afford than what’s in vogue.’
The thought of photo shoots and catwalk runways is ‘super daunting’ for Citira.
‘I’m a stay at home mum,’ she adds. ‘I can rock a laundry like nobody’s business, so if there’s a challenge where we have to wash and fold clothes rather than walk a runway, I’m pretty sure I could win that.’
The main challenge according to Citira could be in finding shoes that fit her. With size 42 feet she says shopping for shoes becomes ‘an absolute mission’. But whether the challenge is fitness or fashion, Citira is determined to give it her all. ‘I’m a fighter,’ she says. ‘And I want a transformation.’
This interview feature first featured on our sister online publication www.martiniblanc.com. DETAILS: Fit for Fashion is broadcast in Singapore and across Asia on StarWorld every Thursday at 9:40 pm (GMT +8, SG & KL time). The first repeats will be on Sundays at 8:45 pm and at 9:40 pm from 2 November 2014 onwards. The second repeats are every Friday at 3:25 pm. For more information on the show, please visit fitforfashion.tv.
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