Grace Page, who works as a professional mermaid (i.e. an animator, in a specially prepared disguise, imitating the appearance of a mythical creature, etc.) was interviewed by the British DailyStar.co.uk. The British woman revealed that when she decided to go down this path, people called her “fat”, sneered that she was “delusional”. “I was stigmatized,” she confessed.
First of all, however, the hate that flows towards her does not move her at all now. “I ignored the haters,” she confides. Secondly, it evokes the famous saying “he who laughs last” because today Grace runs a thriving, her own company called “Hire a Mermaid UK”, in which she trains other women for the unique role of a mermaid animator for children – we read on dailystar.co.uk.
When she started her career as a professional mermaid, she was 31 years old.
When I started, a lot of people thought, ‘she’s crazy. And they said, ‘oh my god, she thinks she’s a real mermaid,’ instead of looking at it from a professional perspective.
– she said. She also told about the hate that hit her hard at first. “(…) You start to change your appearance because mermaids have a certain ideal of being these beautiful, amazing creatures,” she said.
They’d say, ‘you’re not pretty enough to be a mermaid,’ and then they would go on to a viral video I shot around Christmas. I was doing an aquarium show at the time and gained a little weight but was still about 10 to 12 [czyli 38-40 w europejskiej rozmiarówce – przyp. red.]
she confessed.
“They called me a whale”
“They kept commenting that I was a ‘fat mermaid’, they called me ‘a whale’ etc…” recalled the Briton.
She said she had also received nasty comments about her hair. Grace Page suffers from telogen effluvium. She is undergoing effective treatment, but still increased stress can cause her hair to fall out. Despite this, at the worst moment of her illness, she did not quit her job and continued to post videos on the Internet. Under one video she posted on TikTok, people wrote to her that “they think mermaids should have nice hair.”
However, the British emphasizes that over time she began to deal with hate very well. Repeated hate comments are boring and ultimately have no value. Especially since the professional mermaid on TikTok is watched by 1.3 million people.
She became a professional mermaid. “I am very proud”
Not everyone supported Grace from the start. Her mother and grandmother were excited about her career idea, but she did not receive enough support from her boyfriend (now ex-ed.).
Before you decide it’s nothing to dye your hair, put on make-up, put on a mermaid outfit and come up with activities for the kids – Grace has undergone open water diver training to be able to hold her breath for longer and realistically move through the water like a mermaid – while maneuvering a heavy specially designed mermaid tail. Grace can hold her breath for four minutes, but is currently working on being able to stay underwater for a total of six minutes. Interestingly, as part of her company’s activities in the last few years, she has already trained 70 “mermaids” in the UK alone!
In order to start her company, she also applied for a loan granted to small businesses, which finally allowed her to spread her wings. Hire a Mermaid UK has been around since 2014. When asked by DailyStar journalists if she is proud of her success after many years, she replied in the affirmative. “I’m very proud and it’s a bit surreal,” she said.
– I am someone who is always chasing the next goal. I believe that anyone who has this quality does not reject what they have already achieved.
“I’m training the next generation of mermaids”
However, she admitted that the positive reactions still sometimes surprise her.
It’s really nice. And it still surprises me when people send me nice things. People say how much they love me or thank me. They come up to me at mermaid conventions and say they’ve been watching me since I started
she said.
– It’s really surreal. And every time I feel a little ashamed because I forget that I have achieved something like that. But it’s really rewarding and I can experience it first hand: in my camps where I train the next generation of mermaids, “she concluded.
Sources: Dailystar.co.uk/Instagram/@mermaidgrace/TikTok
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
