A humiliated mother was left in floods of tears after she was body-shamed by a cruel photographer during a festive Santa Claus photoshoot with her little girl. Mini Westwood had taken her daughter April out Christmas shopping for the day at their local centre where they have a yearly tradition of getting a picture with Santa, the Mirror reports.
Unfortunately, the special moment was ruined after the mother was left feeling 'rubbish' by the photographer who loudly told her to 'suck your gut in' and motioned for her to do so. Mini, who has suffered with anorexia and other mental health difficulties in the past said the mean comment triggered her and she couldn't believe somebody could be so rude about someone else's body.
In an interview with A Current Affair Mini, from Brisbane, Australia, claimed: "The photographer turned around and says quite loudly, 'Mum, suck your gut in', and just motioned for me to suck my gut in. I felt good at the beginning. I left feeling rubbish."
Mini added that the Santa actor they were being photographed with also heard the disgusting comment and shot the photographer a nasty glare as she held back her tears in front of her child. She continued: "Santa looked at me and kind of looked back at the photographer and shook his head like, you shouldn't say that to someone, especially while their child is here."
The mother was able to contain herself until she arrived home where she was left in floods in tears. She also had to deal with her curious daughter asking her what the photographer meant by their comment.
Mini said: "She Googled it on her iPad and she said to me, 'Mum, suck it in means that you're fat', and I was like, no, 'suck it in' is someone saying that to you who's not happy with themselves and they'll pick on you for it."
Mini contacted Scene to Believe, who organise the Santa's grotto and was offered an immediate apology and told she could have free Santa pictures next Christmas with her daughter.
Mini was also advised via email that the situation had been looked into and the 'team has been spoken to and retrained in the positive ways in which we communicate with our families'.
A Scene to Believe spokesperson told A Current Affair: "Scene To Believe was disappointed when made aware of an unfortunate experience at one of our Santa sets. Core to our values is bringing an inclusive, supportive, and magical experience to all families that visit Santa during the festive season.
"Scene To Believe is a proud partner of the Butterfly Foundation, having seen the challenges and detrimental impacts that an eating disorder has on both a child and family. These types of partnerships enable us to raise awareness with the thousands of families that visit our Santa sets during the festive season.
"They also give us the tools to better educate and upskill our 2,000 strong seasonal workforces to learn strategies that enhance inclusion and communication when visiting Santa and create magical memories in a safe environment."
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