First transgender SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit is on the lookout for love
| Published date | 15 May 2021 |
International aerial dancing champion Holly, who has been single all her life, says of her quest to find love: "I have done lots of crazy stuff, I have done all the aerial dancing -although I think I will still be hanging upside down when I am aged in my 80s! -and it would be nice to come home to somebody now and have someone to talk about the day with.
"I know there aren't many women out there who want to date a 6"4 muscle queen! But I feel a lot more positive about the future, and I have been overwhelmed with messages of support -one lady told me her daughter came out not long ago and she said she hopes that one day she has the confidence I have. It's really amazing. "
Holly, who is originally from Manchester but now lives in Derby, began competing in aerial dancing when she first started transitioning around five years ago, after finding the gym threatening.
She is now a three-time aerial champion, winning the 2019 International Pole and Aerial Tournament Intermediate Skills, 2019 UK Aerial Performance North East and 2020 International Pole and Aerial Tournament Advanced Silks titles -and she's even launched an LGBTQ+ circus community to help others like her.
Project manager Holly says: "I just wanted people to know they had a place to go. When you're trans, gyms are really intimidating. I used to get so many stares and I used to think: 'Am I going to come out of here today'
"It hinders sport for a lot of people. So I wanted to create something that said: 'We don't care what you want to wear, we don't care how you want to be, as long as you're having fun'. I wanted to create a safe space for people to feel like they belong -which is what aerial has done for me. "
Holly, who as well as being 6"4 has size 11 feet, says she has struggled to find women's clothes and often makes her own glamourous aerial outfits from scratch herself.
She explains: "The aerial clothes are a combination of me buying base layers and making the clothes myself -I have glued on more diamantes that I have had hot dinners!
"One competition piece was too short for me, so I cut the bottom off and sewed it up into a top and glued on like a thousand diamantes.
"I am more of a rock and roller... I gradually realised I didn't have to be a Barbie doll and wear a dress every day in order to be feminine.
"One of my friends said to me: 'People are going to...
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