'Employers think I'm lazy because I'm fat': 22 stone obese woman claiming £227 a week in benefits says a discrimination law should be brought in so she can get a job



Jay Cole says potential employers look disappointed at interviews

24-year-old says they think that fat people are not capable

'Why should I have to change who I am?' she told This Morning

The mother-of-one claims £227 a week in benefits and allowances

As a single mother claiming benefits, Jay Cole says she is doing everything she can to get a job.



But she believes there is one main reason why employers won't take her on - her 22-stone weight.



After taking part in numerous job interviews without any success, the 24-year-old says employers take one look at her and decide she is not suitable for the job.

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Unhappy: Jay Cole claims employers won't take her on because she weighs 22-stone

Unemployed: The mother-of-one said she should not have to change who she is in order to get a job

Speaking on This Morning , she said: 'I have gone for everything. Cleaning jobs, retail, nursery nurse. But when I go to interviews you can see the disappointment automatically.



'They think that fat people are lazy and not capable and cannot do what normal sized people can do.'

She suggested new laws should be brought in to stop employers discriminating against large people.

'You would not ask somebody with a disability to not have a disability to get a job. There should be something done so employers do not discriminate.'

Her comments come after figures recently published by the Department of Work and Pensions showed that more than 7,000 Britons are too fat to work. Last year, this cost the taxpayer more than £28 million in benefit payments.

The mother-of-one claims £227 a week in benefits and allowances and has a Body Mass Index of 48.2 - the recommended BMI for a woman is 24. She first started claiming income support as a single mother at the age of 18.

Heated: During a debate on This Morning, journalist Katie Hopkins, who previously appeared on The Apprentice, said she would never employ somebody of Miss Cole's size

Debate: Miss Cole was on This Morning talking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield

Her only job was as a dinner lady working for 6½ hours a week. She did this for nine months before a dispute over time-keeping resulted in her leaving in November.



On the ITV show today, she was involved in a heated debate with journalist Katie Hopkins, who previously starred on The Apprentice. She told Miss Cole that she should lose weight in order to get a job.

'I think you have to make that change,' she said. 'I would never employ somebody of your size.'



But Miss Cole, from Tonbridge, Kent, strongly disagreed and said obese people should not have to lose weight to be employed.



'Why should I have to change who I am?', she said. 'I do not go for job interviews because I look a certain way.'



Despite claiming she is regularly applying for jobs, Miss Cole has only attended 12 interviews in five years.



But she maintains she does not want a life on benefits.



'I want to work. I do not want to be on benefits. I have been on benefits since I was 18 and it is not something that I am proud of. There are employers missing out on people who may be the right person for the job but they are not being taken on because of their size.'



According to The Sun, Miss Cole receives a two-bedroom council flat and has her council tax paid. She also receives £20.30 each week in child benefits as well as £47 in Jobseeker's Allowance.



Her benefits allow her to get clothing vouchers for job interviews, free prescriptions and discounted tube travel.