Rochdale’s ‘blonde bombshell’ to hit world bikini bodybuilding stage

IFBB Pro Heather Schofield

A bodybuilder from Rochdale is celebrating after she was awarded a ‘life-changing’ pro card this month – two years after becoming the first British bikini champion.

Personal trainer Heather Schofield, 24, becomes only the second Brit to become an International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) Bikini Pro, allowing her to compete against the world’s professionals.

The Norden girl, dubbed the ‘blonde bombshell’ by one of her sponsors, has vowed to keep competing until she reaches the very top of the sport.

“Getting this tour card has probably changed my life forever,” she said.

“It’s strange because you’re not going to do anything different except you’re now competing against the world’s pros, and the stages are all in America.

“But just having those three letters before your name, being a pro, it’s like having ‘doctor’ in front of your name and nobody can take that away from you so it’s great, you have it for life.

“Competing at the Olympia – the grandest bodybuilding stage of all – is now my ultimate goal. I won’t stop until I’ve made it.”

Heather, who currently works at Heywood’s BodyMatters Gym, admitted while she was always keen to obtain a pro card, receiving it had come as a big surprise.

“I was at a massive expo in Birmingham and I was just doing a guest spot, filling in time between qualifiers,” she explained.

“I was on my way to the back stage and the president of the federation [William Tierney] turned me around and walked me back out and announced that I was getting a pro card.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all - it was a massive shock!”

Heather says she got into bodybuilding after learning of the competitions when she joined a gym, having always been a keen sportswoman in school.

And she insists there is far more to competing as a bodybuilder than just walking on stage and flexing her muscles.

“Obviously everyone just sees the final product, but usually you have to prepare for about four months just for that one show,” she said.

“Then in the days before the event you have to do the tan – which takes about three days – and dehydrate your body.

“Then just before you compete you do what we call carb-loading and because your body’s dehydrated it shows off all your muscles.

“There’s a lot more to competing than just walking out on the stage.”

Heather now joins Michelle Brannan in representing Britain in the bikini class as a pro card holder.

And having finished joint-second at last year’s Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in Madrid she can now bid to qualify for the prestigious Olympia, which the legendary Terminator actor himself made famous.