After completing a year as Britain's Strongest Woman, Gemma Taylor is preparing to defend her title at the weekend and has her sights set on the world title. She tells Women's Editor Sarah Foster how she's beaten the bullies to find success.

IT'S fair to say that when I meet Gemma Taylor, at her Hartlepool gym, she's not at all what I'm expecting. Far from fitting the stereotype of butch with bulging biceps, she's actually very feminine. Wearing jeans and a bright red top, and with shoulder-length blonde hair, she could be just another gym bunny.

While she's tall and stocky, with large hands and tree trunk thighs, she's certainly no Geoff Capes. You'd never think that such a normal looking woman could be Britain's strongest.

Since starting training, about two years ago, Gemma has won a clutch of titles - as well as Britain's Strongest Woman, the 22-year-old is also England's Strongest Woman and European Cup winner. This coming Sunday, she'll strive to keep her number one ranking when the British title competition is held once more, on home turf at Ellwoods Fitness World. If she achieves this - and there's no reason why she won't - she'll be on track for her greatest prize: the world title. Yet while she's close to fulfilling her dream, and winning global admiration, Gemma's life was once less rosy.

"Because I was a large child, I was always bullied, " she says. "I've always been very broad built and I did struggle with the whole being big thing but if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have been bothered, because my size is what has helped me to be who I am."

For someone so young, Gemma is almost frighteningly mature, and despite being far from waif-like, she's clearly happy in her skin. Her startling wisdom stems from childhood. "I saw something inside the people who were bullying me that was unhappy, " she says. "I realised they were bullying me to get aggression out from somewhere else in their lives.

I was about ten when I realised that. I was actually at a birthday party and the girl whose birthday it was locked me in her room and she wouldn't let me play because I was too fat. I felt like I'd been imprisoned for being large.

"All I could think of was Winnie the Pooh and his thinking log. What I realised was that because I was the life and soul of the party, she didn't want me to overshadow her. I actually felt sorry for her because I would never have done that."

What enhanced Gemma's self-esteem was being valued by her family. It was while at home with her mum and dad, and sister Joanne, now 28, that she saw her first strong men competitions on TV.

"My dad's a big fan of rugby and any sort of sport on the TV and at Christmas time, the family used to watch the World's Strongest Man, " she says. "We always had our favourite strong man and because I was a large child, I used to be able to relate to these real-life heroes.

It just made me feel a lot better that people of a larger size had had the success of getting on TV and being athletes."

Yet it took time for Gemma to think of this as an outlet for herself. She went to college, then university, finding work in an office, as a head chef, and latterly, as a singer - a job that when not training, she still does. Her fascination with strong men made her go to watch them in competitions and it was through this that she had her induction.

"I met a couple of guys and they said, 'come training with us', " she says.

"They made me flip a large tractor tyre and they said it wasn't supposed to be that easy. I organised a charity night at my local pub and invited four local strong men, and six months later, I decided that I wanted to start training as a strong woman - that's where my destiny lay - so I got in touch with Eddy Ellwood because I knew he had a gym in Hartlepool."

From one session a week, Gemma progressed to daily workouts, moving from Bagby, near Thirsk, to be close to her second home. With expert coaching from Eddy, who was five times Mr Universe and three times England's Strongest Man, she quickly found success. Her current status as number one has brought surprising perks.

"I've been in a film called Six Bend Trap, " says Gemma casually. "It's about dog racing and Lisa Riley and Paul Usher, from the Bill and Brookside, were in it. I played a gangster's daughter and it was quite a big part."

While many would have killed for such a chance, it seems it fell into Gemma's lap.

"I sold my violin on eBay and the guy who bought it was the director of the film, " she says.

"He wanted to come and collect it on the Sunday and I said I wasn't in because I was the guest spot at a competition. He said, 'why, who are you?' and I said, 'Britain's Strongest Woman'. He said, 'can we keep in touch because I need somebody like you'. I didn't hear from him for about seven to eight months and then he rang me and said, 'can you come for a screen test?' I got the part and was filming for six weeks around Teesside and at Peterborough dog track."

If it was ever in doubt, when Gemma mentions the premiere, her femininity shines through. "I'm quite excited because I get to dress up, " she enthuses.

"I'm having my hair and nails done. The guy I'm going with is Dean Bolt, who is Wales's Strongest Man."

IS he her boyfriend? I have to ask. Her breezy confidence gives way to sudden shyness. "He's my rent-a-date, " she confides. "I've had a couple of boyfriends in my time of training and they've just been a bit of a distraction.

I've got the world (championships) to think of this year."

On the subject of dating, I wonder if men find her intimidating. While admitting that they sometimes do, as far as Gemma is concerned, there's no conflict between being strong and being womanly. "The World's Strongest Woman is beautiful, " she says. "She's very girlie but then she stands there lifting cars. At the end of the day, I'm not trying to be a bloke. I'm very much a woman, and I use that to drive me to do what I do. A lot of the girls at international level are very similar."

The mental toughness her strength demands has made her philosophical, and while at risk of speaking in platitudes, at least she lives by her beliefs.

"To me, you can apply what I do in the gym to any aspect of anyone's life, " she says. "The hurdles that I have to go through can be very much the hurdles that other people have to go through in their day to day lives. As your strength grows and your positivity grows, that's a solution to a problem. I think if you really are passionate about something and want to do that so much, you can, and I've proved that doing what I'm doing - that the impossible is achievable."

In terms of selfimprovement, Gemma has certainly come a long way. From being just under 20 stones in her mid teens, she's now slimmed down to 16, hardly any of which is fat. She's also dropped a whole six dress sizes, from size 24/26 to a toned 16. While she eats more calories than is the norm - 2,600, compared with the 2,000 recommended - her daily diet is pretty standard, only high in protein and with no junk food.

With fingers in many pies, including a strong man magazine and DVD, Gemma feels she has no limits. Another sideline, she slips in, is being a bouncer - "It doesn't really help with the stereotype but I'm a nice bouncer, " she pleads. As far as she sees it, in being a strong woman, she's being her own woman - and she hopes that others will follow her lead. "If I can inspire anybody to either lose weight at the gym or be stronger in themselves, or even help them get over a blip, then that makes everything worthwhile, " she says.

This year's Britain's Strongest Woman competition will be held at Ellwood's Fitness World, Park View West Industrial Estate, Brenda Road, Hartlepool, from noon on Sunday.