00:05 COMM: Mikel Ruffinelli, from Los Angeles California,
believes she has the world's biggest hips.
Measuring a staggering eight feet in circumference.
00:19 MIKEL: I love my curves, I love my hips, I
love my attributes, hehehe, I love being unique.
00:27 COMM: Mikel says her figure is down to genetics
rather than her diet.
The gene if big hips runs in my family, here's a picture of my beautiful mom.
You can really see where I get my shapely loveliness from.
00:43 MIKEL: I didn't start gaining weight until
just before I had my son, With every child came more hips and I've had four kids.
So I've gotten a little wider, wider, and wider each child.
00:54 COMM: Now Mikel's hips are so big she attracts
attention everywhere she goes.
01:00 MIKEL: Some people have that I've had implants,
I've been asked "is it real?"
I get that a lot.
01:06 DANIEL: I mean there's no way it's actually
real, like I mean, how do you gain that much weight on your ass, and you don't have it
on your arms?
I would never want to be with a girl like that, no.
I can't do it.
01:21 MIKEL: Some of the reactions I've gotten from
men and women, y'know both sides they laugh, they'll point, they'll whisper, I've gotten
videos recorded of me, anywhere I go someone's gonna take out their camera phone or camera.
I've probably had hundreds of pictures taken of me no matter where I've gone.
01:42 COMM: Mikel's unique dimensions also pose
difficulties at home.
Where her 99 inch hips barely fit through doorways, and showing is a challenge.
01:51 MIKEL: Over, into the shower.
Lift up the other leg, try not to fall.
And I'm in.
If I try to close it this way I can't do it.
02:04 COMM: To keep in shape Mikel exercises with
her three daughters.
02:08 MIKEL: "Come on help Mommy up, one, two, three,
go.
Very good, alright, okay."
02:14 MIKEL: When I don't get chance to go do my
exercise I'm implementing doing, in my family time with my kids, I'll dance with them on
the Wii.
So...that's fun.
02:26 COMM: But despite Mikel's relaxed attitude,
the family have mixed feelings about her size.
02:32 MIKEL: "I'm tired, that's enough, okay put
it away."
02:36 DESTYNEE: I dont mind following in her footsteps,
but I don't really want to because I see how her struggle is, and if she stands up for
a certain amount of time she starts to hurt.
And it kinda hurts me to see her struggle.
02:51 MIKEL: "It ain't working, oh my God, this
is all you can - uh-uh!
No, Reggie don't do that.
Get off, yeah get off."
03:01 COMM: While Mikel's extreme proportions divide
opinion in some, she's found true love with husband Reggie.
03:08 REGGIE: A lot of people say, they don't believe
in love at first sight, however, that's how it was for me.
She had a sweet disposition about her that really attracted me to her.
I like to tell people all the time, I have license to work with heavy equipment.
You know what I'm saying?
03:28 MIKEL: I think it's feminine to have curves.
It's very womanly, it makes us beautiful.
I'd rather be this size, and happy, with me, loving me, than to be skinny, that size, and
be unhappy.