Bruce Bogtrotter bride shed so much weight guests didn’t recognise her

Cruelly dubbed Bruce Bogtrotter at school, after the cake-guzzling schoolboy in Roald Dahl’s Matilda, when self-confessed “fat girl” Katie Abrahams met secret eater Liam Plumtree, in a Leeds nightclub in 2008, their love for each other and for overeating soon grew.

Over the years, Katie, now 27, a nurse, ballooned to 15-and-a-half stone and wore a size 20 – huge for her diminutive 5ft 2in frame.

Katie when she weighed 13st 7lbs, with Liam at 18st (Collect/PA Real Life)

Meanwhile, Liam – who would covertly scoff snacks and chocolate on the bus home from his administrative job – reached nearly 20 stone and wore size XXL clothes.

But, following his proposal to Katie, during a brewery tour, in 2014, she vowed to slim down for their October 2016 wedding.

Sadly, her diets failed, so in June 2014 she joined a slimming group – begging Liam to go with her.

Liam and Katie after they lost 10 stone between them (Collect/PA Real Life)

A resounding success, they each shed six stone – making Katie a slender nine-and-a-half stone and Liam a trim 14 stone.

As the fat melted away, Liam’s chiselled cheekbones and Katie’s sparkly eyes made an appearance.

In fact, on their wedding day, they looked SO different, some wedding guests didn’t recognise them.

Katie and Liam cutting the cake on their wedding day (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I’m still a fat-girl at heart,” admitted Katie, of Leeds, West Yorkshire. “But I no longer eat cakes, Greggs pastries and crisps.

“I’m no longer Bruce Bogtrotter… and the wedding photos prove that.

“For the first time in my life, I’ve been able to fit into skinny jeans.”

Liam and Katie before they lost weight (Collect/PA Real Life)

Liam added: “One of the best things about losing weight was feeling so confident on our wedding day. We finally felt confident in our own skin.”

Katie, whose weight problems began in her teens, recalled how a doctor labelled her “morbidly obese” when she hit 13 stone, aged 16, ahead of a routine operation to treat a split tendon in her left foot, which had been aggravated by her size.

Going on to study community nursing at Leeds University, aged 18, she gorged on fatty food, like takeaway pizza.

Liam weighing 19st, a week before he joined Slimming World (Collect/PA Real Life)

And when she became a nurse in Leeds, she felt guilty advising people on healthy habits, knowing she was overweight.

“One patient described me as a ‘big girl’ which, while true, I found upsetting,” she confessed.

“I’d gorge on sandwiches from Greggs, cake, cereal and go through milk like nobody’s business.”

Liam, last New Year’s Eve (Collect/PA Real Life)

Still, it didn’t stop her from hitting on Liam, then 19, when she spotted him at Leeds’ Oceana nightclub in 2008.

“I was around 14 stone at the time,” she recalled. “I spotted him and thought he was really good-looking, so went up to him and asked, ‘How did you get to be so fit?

“I remember he replied, ‘If you think I’m fit, you should look at yourself.’”

Katie and Liam slimmed down for their wedding (Collect/PA Real Life)

They soon became a couple, indulging their love of food on restaurant dates and by stuffing their faces in front of films.

Then, in April 2014, during a tour of a brewery for his birthday, Liam proposed.

The couple set a date to marry in October 2016 at Weetwood Hall, a posh hotel, in Leeds.

Katie and Liam after losing weight (Collect/PA Real Life)

“But I was worried,” recalled Katie. “I didn’t want to be Bruce Bogtrotter on my wedding day.

“So, I told Liam I was going to a slimming club, and begged him to come, too.”

It was then that Liam made a shocking confession to his wife-to-be – revealing that, while on the bus to-and-from work, he had been stuffing his face with sweet treats.”

Katie and Liam on holiday in 2012, before they lost 12 stone to get married (Collect/PA Real Life

“I hadn’t realised he was embarrassed about his size, too,” said Katie. “But he told me he wanted to lose weight as well.

“It really helped losing weight together, because every time one of us tried to cheat, the other one stopped it.”

In October 2015, Katie chose a gorgeous, chiffon, white wedding dress in a size 18 at a Leeds bridal boutique.

Katie on her 22nd birthday, when she was a size 18 and weighed 15st 1lbs (Collect/PA Real Life)

But, over the next few months, it had to be taken in four times until it was a size 10.

“The seamstress told me off and banned me from losing any more weight,” laughed Katie.

“When we got married on October 15, 2016, it was brilliant. But some guests admitted they hadn’t recognised us because we’d lost so much weight.”

Katie at 12st 7lbs (Collect/PA Real Life)

The couple, who plan to honeymoon in Florida later this year, are still slimming.

“When I think back to the bullies who called me Bruce Bogtrotter, I know I got the last laugh,” said Katie. “I married the man of my dreams – and am healthy to boot.”