She expects to have spent £25,000 by the time her inkings are complete
Says discovering Twilight helped her focus on losing weight
Now more confident, says tattoos are a permanent reminder and reward
Favourite character is Edward and she is a Robert Pattinson fan too
With a perfect copy of the New Moon film poster emblazoned across her back, portraits of Edward Cullen on both ribs and the Cullen crest splashed across her breastbone, describing Cathy Ward, 52, as a Twilight fan is a bit of an understatement.
But there's more to the Twihard's tattoos than a penchant for Robert Pattison, although the self-confessed member of Team Edward admits that it does play a part.
For Cathy, her etchings are also an important reminder of how far she's come since Christmas 2009, when she weighed six stone more and was an unhappy size 24 - and a reward.
Yet trading comfort eating for Twilight tattoos hasn't come cheap, as she happily admits. So far, she has spent just under £8,500 on getting inked but expects to have spent £25,000 by the time her 'body suit' is complete.
'I've had about 91 hours of tattooing now and it's costing a small fortune,' explains Cathy, who works as a baker for the Morrisons supermarket chain in her hometown of Reading.
'I've forked out just under £8,500 and by the time I'm finished, when [my] body's completely covered, we're looking at between £17,000 and £25,000.'
Cathy's passion for ink began after a friend handed her a copy of the first Twilight book at the end of 2009.
Hooked, she quickly devoured the first novel and sped through the remaining three before buying the DVDs and soundtracks of the accompanying films.
Her first tattoo, an elaborate recreation of the film poster for New Moon, followed with more etchings added two weeks later.
'We've got the book covers, we've got the ribbon, we've got the family crest, we've got the hairpiece, we've got the chessboard from Breaking Dawn, we've got the wolf tribal symbol,' she reveals.
'I've had five wolves done and one of the last things Jacob says to [Bella] when he realises he's lost her. He said: "It would be as easy as breathing with me".'
But despite her love for the Wolf Pack - the subject of an inking currently underway on her left leg - it's Edward, played in the films by Robert Pattinson, who interests her the most.
'Obviously, I'm Team Edward so most of my tattoos are of Edward,' she explains. 'I'm definitely a Robert Pattinson fan.
'It's because he's not classically good looking - he's different,' she adds. 'I'm not what I'd call good looking, I'm average and he's similar. Plenty of other guys in the film are better looking but he's striking in different way.'
Since discovering Twilight, Cathy has lost an incredible six stone and says that having the tattoos is a permanent reminder of just how far she's come since 1999 when the shock of losing her mother resulted in an unhealthy obsession with food.
'That's when I started going really hell for leather doing what I wanted and abusing my body,' remembers Cathy.
'I was sitting down, overeating, just vegetating all the time. I was ashamed of myself and what I looked like.
'When my friend gave me the first book and I got well and truly hooked on it, it kind of focused me. Of course, then I got the music, the soundtracks to all of the movies, so I got them out, I'd exercise to them and I'd be watching a DVD and I'd just be exercising in front of them.
And then I'd get another tattoo and it'd just give me something to focus on. I've lost six stone and that's what did it.
'It's a permanent reminder and a reward to me for getting my life back on track to what it should be.'
But not everyone is as supportive of Cathy's decision to get inked. Although her husband Colin, to whom she's been married for 21 years, tolerates her tattoos, not everyone in her family agrees.
'My father, at first he was very resistant,' she says. 'He wouldn't be seen out with me. My brother, I haven't spoken to in five years. He's quite embarrassed by me.
'My sisters... they're just quite glad to see me come out of my shell and be who I should be. I used to be very quiet, sort of hide in the background, be a bit of a wallflower.'
She certainly isn't anymore and revels in the stir she caused when she was invited onto the red carpet at the Breaking Dawn part one premiere in 2011.
'I got sent tickets to the premiere, which was brilliant although security wouldn't let me near the main characters,' remembers Cathy with a chuckle.
'But the fans reaction was brilliant - it was an hour and a half of mayhem because they all wanted pictures with me.'
Her tattoos also got her the attention of Taylor Lautner, the 21-year-old American who plays Jacob, who, to her delight, even mentioned her in an interview.
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