Surprising Victoria Wood documentary that inspired beloved 00s song

Victoria Wood helped inspire an iconic 00s hit (Picture: Don Smith/Radio Times/Getty Images)

In 2004, a two-part documentary aired on Channel 4, which saw Victoria Wood investigating how different life can be for a plus-sized person.

The innocuous miniseries would go on to inspire a Top 10 anthem for beloved singer Mika, released just four years later.

‘It is one of my favourite tracks and brilliant to play live,’ he once said of the track. ‘Everyone sings along.’

This was not your standard pop hit, though; it was a celebration of plus-sized women inspired by a unique nightclub that championed them, featured in the documentary.

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) peaked at number nine on the UK charts but has become a feel-good staple on the Grace Kelly hitmaker’s setlists.

Mika, 41, revealed he was inspired while watching a Victoria Wood documentary, which featured a ‘size acceptance’ club, The Butterfly Lounge.

Was the Butterfly Lounge real?

The Butterfly Lounge was a real nightclub in Costa Mesa, California, opened by Kathleen D by the side of a highway.

It featured in Channel 4’s Victoria Wood’s Big Fat Documentary, a two-part series exploring weight, which aired in 2004.

During the final episode, the late comedian visits the Butterfly Lounge after talking to some dancers who perform there about how it ‘changed their lives’.

‘Most of the women who come here are pretty big, but this is not about celebrating obesity,’ Victoria explained. ‘It’s more that they’re allowing themselves to be ordinary and have a good time.’

The Butterfly Lounge was opened by Kathleen D (Picture: Channel 4/ Youtube) It was designed to make plus-sized women feel comfortable (Picture: Channel 4/ Youtube)

In the documentary, Kathleen shared: ‘It’s about going to a club and not worrying about being accepted because of your size. Most clubs you go into, the women are a smaller size.

‘A large woman goes in there and feels uncomfortable so I created a club that everybody could go into, no matter what size you are, and still have a good time.’

She revealed that people would open up over time, going from sitting in the corner to dancing the night away in ‘lingerie’.

‘I’m telling people it’s okay to be who you are and accept who you are and you can still be sexy and still be sensual,’ Kathleen added.

Victoria visited the nightclub for her 2004 documentary (Picture: Channel 4/ Youtube) Mika loved the sentiment behind the Butterfly Lounge (Picture: Channel 4/ Youtube)

Is the Butterfly Lounge still open?

Sadly, the Butterfly Lounge shut down in 2021 after the business failed to stay afloat during COVID-19.

However, Mika is determined to carry on the legacy every single time he sings Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) as he shared with the crowd at Brighton Pride in 2024.

‘The Butterfly Lounge was a club that really existed,’ he told the crowd as he donned a butterfly headband.

Mika continued: ‘It was opened by a woman who was sick of going to clubs and having people make fun of her or make nasty comments because they thought she was too fat and not thin enough.’

The Butterfly Lounge closed in 2021 (Picture: Channel 4/ Youtube)

He revealed he had been to meet Kathleen and her friends after seeing the Victoria Wood documentary.

‘But Brighton, we’ve got a problem,’ the Lollipop singer said. ‘Because the Butterfly Lounge shut down and doesn’t exist anymore.

‘So I ask you all, my friends at Brighton Pride, at the count of three, we are going to recreate the Butterfly Lounge here tonight, together.’

Four years ago, Kathleen responded to a patron asking if it would ever open again, to which she replied: ‘I live in Vegas, so hopefully after the pandemic I can open out here.’

So far, the lounge does not appear to have reopened.

What has Mika said about Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)?

Mika has revealed that the song was written at 2.30am, when he was unable to sleep before a flight to Los Angeles the next day.

In the introduction to the song on his Life in Cartoon Motion album, he wrote:’The women were amazing and I absolutely felt as if I had to write about them.

‘I never expected it on the album, but a few weeks later we recorded it and it’s now there.’

Mika dedicated the song to his mum (Picture: Getty Images)

Big Girl was not only inspired by the Butterfly Lounge but by the women who Mika grew up with, including his mum.

Speaking about the track in a TikTok in 2023, he shared: ‘It struck me seeing all these big girls, big guys, in this club that was very accepting of their size.

‘My mother was big, I grew up with a big mom. My aunties were big. I saw how hurt they were when they didn’t feel beautiful and how it was difficult for them sometimes.

‘I always thought of them as beautiful, I saw them as perfect. So I just wanted to write a song that paid homage to them, that told them that they were beautiful.

‘That my mom was beautiful. And that’s why I wrote Big Girl.’

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