Nicole Francis, 42, who spent more than two decades battling body image issues while working as a model and singer, now runs Crosby Nutrition, a wellness hub, to help others feel good inside. The mum-of-two opened up about her past struggles, including being told she was "too fat" for the national gymnastics team and losing out to a "willowy Scouse legend" in a pop career attempt.
From I-Candy to rejection
In the early 2000s, Nicole was part of a three-piece girl group called I-Candy. At the time, another pop group, Genie Queen, featured model and television personality Abbey Clancy alongside Anna Ord and Halewood's Lauren Blake, who left to join girl group Frank.
Nicole was later told in a meeting with record producers that she was "too fat" to be in a girl group, a focus on the exterior that caused her body image issues later in life.
Struggles and turning point
Nicole told the ECHO: "From a young age, it was all kinds that I'd do. I'd do diet pills, I'd do the Atkins diet, I'd do all body treatments and things like that, and I just wasn't happy, I was stuck."
"When I was 12, I was in the national gymnastics team and they told me I was too fat. Then I was in a three-piece girl band called I-Candy, and we thought we were going in to have a meeting about signing a record deal."
"They came out and said we were too fat, because at the time these curves weren't in. Our rival band was Abbey Clancy's girl band, and she's dead slim, isn't she?"
"When I was 16, I had an eating disorder, and what scares me now is social media. It started coming in a little bit but I just think where my head was at at that time, if we had social media thrown into that mix of all these so-called perfect bodies, I don't know where I would have gone with that."
New purpose and impact
Aside from Crosby Nutrition, Nicole has owned beauty salon Lip Couture for 15 years, now based below her other business, offering treatments like semi-permanent make-up. She said doing permanent make-up made people feel good on the outside, but her passion now is helping people feel good on the inside too.
In January 2020, after seeing a social media post from a friend offering nutrition plans, Nicole decided to give it a try. From there, she opened Crosby Nutrition and started helping others with their journey.
She said: "Once you hit your 40s, you're looking for more of a purpose in life, and once I helped one or two people transform their life in so many ways, I realised that it is a calling of mine that has satisfied my days. I love it, I love helping other people."
Nicole first started her wellness journey almost seven years ago and now has the skills and education to help others. She said: "I see that I change people's lives every day on so many levels, whether it's confidence, body shape, how they feel, or energy. That is what I love every day about coming into the club."
One club member, Shamim Groves, 53, said Nicole's work has seen her "look at life in a different light". Shamim said: "I feel great, I'm moving more, I can climb the stairs, my blood pressure tablets have been lowered, instead of having 30% mobility, I've gone up to 70%."
"It makes you look at life in a different light, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This is someone who walked with a frame, who didn't actually get out."
"The confidence I've got now is amazing, especially with my walking. I can do things with my granddaughter, I can go out on days out, even eating and drinking and simple things that people take for granted, I can do it all."
Nicole spoke about other influences that impacted her when she was younger, adding: "I suffered for 20 years, and thank God there was no social media then either at the beginning. How I felt for 20 years is just great to help other women, and now men, feel the same and get healthier and happier."
"It's why I get out of bed at like 5 o'clock in the morning to get up and help these people and the great thing is I'm now recruiting coaches worldwide. I am looking to help people to coach and feel the same as I do, even if it's just looking after a few friends and family. So that's my new passion now."
