Keeping up with a Kardashian

UK woman spends $42,500 to look like Kim

She has had hair extensions, breast enhancement and has had her teeth whitened.

All she has to work on now is her bum.

Miss Claire Leeson, 24, has spent almost £20,000 (S$42,500) to look like her idol, 33-year-old US reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

The British woman from Essex, in the south-east of England, was on ITV's This Morning programme on Monday to talk about her transformation.

She told hosts Ruth Langsford and Ben Shephard that she decided to change her life after watching reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians in 2009, reported the Daily Mail.

"When I left school, friends would tell me that I had a resemblance to Kim," she said.

"So I watched (the show) and realised I had the same number of siblings and that we have the same kind of arguments and things going on.

"I thought she was so beautiful and I really wanted to be like her."

Miss Leeson started by getting her teeth whitened, before enhancing her breasts to the same size as Kardashian's.

She spent £4,500 on her hair extensions alone and wears pants with silicone implants, but is looking at getting real implants and transferring fat from all areas of her body into her buttocks.

Why the obsession with Kardashian?

Miss Leeson admitted she had been bullied in her teens, was called fat and ugly, and even attempted suicide twice.

Money problems

After dropping out of school, she continued her studies at a local college before moving away at 19.

Her various procedures have landed her in deep money trouble, with "credit cards and debts up to my eyeballs", reported the Daily Mirror. "I've had (bailiff) letters, but I just ignore them and I say to myself that I will pay them - but as soon as money comes in I just think about getting my Kimmy on! And I'll buy the new hair, make-up or whatever..."

She insists that she's doing what is best for her and feels "unstoppable".

"I feel strong... and I feel that I have built enough confidence to love myself a little bit more," she said.

This article was first published on July 18, 2014.
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