My six-pack days are gone – I’m too busy feeding my 350 animals to gym… I’m fat but happier than ever says Jodie Marsh
SHE was one of the biggest glamour models in the UK, renowned for falling out of clubs drunk, wearing next to nothing and partying most nights of the week.
But life couldn’t be more different now for Jodie Marsh, having shunned the limelight to run an animal sanctuary – Fripps Farm, in Chelmsford, Essex.
Since opening in 2020 the farm has snowballed, and the 44-year-old now cares for around 350 animals, including meerkats, sheep, emus, birds, rabbits and even a baby deer.
Dressed in a baggy T-shirt, trousers and muddy wellies, she jokes: “You might recognise me as someone that used to be glamorous, sexy, a bodybuilder and everything else, but now I’m just a farm girl and I look a mess.”
For her first tell-all interview in seven years Jodie sits down with us in what used to be her gym, where the walls are covered in posters of Jodie’s favourite photoshoots from over the years, many of which are topless.
But her gym equipment is buried in hay, and while we chat a deer and a lamb trot in and out.
Jodie says most nights she doesn’t get to bed until 2am – not because she’s out on the lash, but because she’s looking after her animals. Then she’s up again at the crack of dawn to feed them.
She tells us: “The reason I’m now fat and haven’t got a six pack is because I don’t have time to eat properly or even do the food shopping. Not ever.
“I used to cook healthy meals and don’t have time for that anymore.
“I don’t gym at the moment either. I don’t have time. It’s manic.”
‘Life’s too short’
It was Jodie’s mum Kristina being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2020 that was the driving force for Jodie to pack in the showbiz world and fulfil her dream of running an animal sanctuary.
She explains: “I’d said my whole entire life I will have an animal sanctuary when I retire.
“I always kept thinking when the time’s right, when I retire, when I have enough money.
“But then my mum got sick and I realised life’s so short, why am I not doing what I want to be doing now?
“So I just went, ‘F**k it, I’m doing it.’ And I started and it snowballed, and now here we are with 350 animals.”
The reason I’m now fat and haven’t got a six pack is because I don’t have time to eat properly or even do the food shopping. Not ever
Jodie Marsh
Sadly Kristina died in September 2020, just months after Jodie opened the sanctuary, so she never got the chance to see it grow.
But Jodie, who reveals her mum was the brains behind her infamous diamante belts outfit, says: “My mum was my best friend. She would be proud. 100 per cent.
“She loved animals herself, and she was proud of the fact that I’m so passionate and fight for what I believe in.
“So the fact that I’m now doing what I was always meant to do, I know she’d be so happy for me. I just hope she’s looking down and can see it all.”
‘Horny emu’
It’s clear Jodie is in her element as she takes us around the farm introducing us to her many animals.
As she opens the gate, horny emu Pam tries it on with her.
It’s terrifying to watch, but Jodie casually admits it happens “for two weeks of every month”.
Noisy gobbling turkeys run up to us, including one called Damon, and Jodie informs us it’s their way of chatting.
“That’s Damon showing off to you, saying ‘How handsome am I?’” she adds.
My mum got sick and I realised life’s so short, why am I not doing what I want to be doing now?
Jodie Marsh
The pen next door contains sheep that are more like giant dogs, licking Jodie’s hand and nuzzling up against us for cuddles.
“That’s Klaus,” Jodie says, pointing at a particularly woolly one. “I rescued him and his brother from slaughter when he was a baby and bottle fed him, so he thinks I’m his mum.”
Jodie has six sheep on the farm, and has cared for all of them since they were babies.
“They all still think I’m their mum,” she says. “They are very affectionate and loving, they know they’re safe here. They know they’re loved and looked after, hence why they’re all walking straight up to you. They think you’re a friend, they’re just happy.”
There are also three lambs, recently rescued from a slaughterhouse, and a baby Muntjac deer saved after falling into a swimming pool.
The deer is yet to be named – we suggest Bambi.
RSPCA row
Jodie was devastated when Fripps Farm was recently raided by the RSPCA, after she took her pet meerkat Mabel to the pub.
Jodie claims it stemmed from a troll who’s targeting her.
Recalling the incident, she says: “They looked over the centre and asked about the meerkat incident.
“I explained she had been orphaned, I was rearing her and she needed regular feeding every hour.
“I went to my local pub briefly and took her because she cried if I left her.
“No one made a fuss or complained. Everyone is very supportive, but I have a troll who is out to cause trouble.”
Jodie also railed at officers for looking into claims an emu had a tube stuck in its neck — explaining it was a life-saving feeding tube.
Jodie was vindicated after the RSPCA spoke to a vet who visits the farm every fortnight to check on the animals, and was satisfied there is no neglect or mistreatment at Fripps Farm.
We were introduced to both Mabel and the emu, and it was clear they are both very happy.
OnlyFans funding
Jodie is now looking forward to the future as she’s about to move to a new, bigger farm 20 minutes away from the current site in Chelmsford.
She says: “We’re going to have more help with the animals and it’s going to be a much better set-up.
“There’s so much more land, which means I can give all the animals more space and be able to rescue more animals in the future.”
Jodie needs to raise £100,000 in order to finish building all the new enclosures.
Currently, most of the funds for the farm come from OnlyFans – on which Jodie sometimes gets completely naked – but she says the money “goes out as quick as it comes in”.
She says: “We do get a lot of money from OnlyFans, but every penny from it goes into Fripps.
“Our vet bills are probably £10,000 a month at the minute, and vet bills aside, it costs four grand a week to run this place!”
Despite this Jodie says she’s the happiest she’s ever been.
She finishes: “I cannot explain the joy I feel every single day of my life, the satisfaction, the feeling of contentment, just knowing that I’m doing something good.
“I’m doing what I always should have been doing, 100 per cent.”
She adds, through tears: “The only sadness in my life is that my mum isn’t here to see it. That kills me.
“But she’d be really proud.”
