Angie Dowds, the popular lesbian trainer who appeared on The Biggest Loser in the U.K. since it's origination in 2005, apparently jumped to her death at Beachy Head, a coastal spot known for suicides in East Sussex, England, according to reports in The Sun. Spectators reported seeing a woman who either jumped or fell from the cliff, and the Coast Guard found Dowds's body last Sunday.
The 42-year-old Dowds had talked publicly about her youthful battles with drugs and alcohol after her family moved from Canada to Wales. But those days were long gone, and Dowds was so successful in the fitness arena that she was named Personal Trainer of the Year at the International Fitness Showcase Awards in 2006.
According to The Sun, Dowds said at the time, "Getting industry recognition felt fantastic. Ten years ago I said to myself, 'I want to be the best at whatever it is I end up doing'. I've always had that inside me."
Earlier this year Dowds was briefly suspended from The Biggest Loser for telling her team to only eat nuts and fruit before a weigh-in. She was asked to return for the finale, though, and was contrite in telling reporters she screwed up: "It's not The Biggest Loser way and I made a bad choice. My competitiveness had taken over. My head was just, Go to win."
As friends and family posted tributes to Dowds on Facebook and Twitter this week, there was much speculation in the media over her partner Corrie Preece, a yoga guru, to whom Dowds was engaged earlier this year. Some reports say the couple had split recently; other say they were still engaged and thus a surviving partner. (Preece could not be reached for comment.)
In an interview in April with the British lesbian magazine Diva, Dowds said, "Never give up. I try to live by that motto. I very nearly did once. I really hope I never do again." Sadly, unless police confirm otherwise, it looks like Dowds may have done just that.
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