By Filipa Gaspar via SWNS
A woman who struggled to work full-time because of invisible disabilities has dived into the perfect job – as a professional mermaid.
Jasmine Seales, 33, said she was “really unreliable” and “kept being fired'” because of her health issues.
Jasmine has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome – a group of genetic disorders that affect connective tissues, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and fibromyalgia.
But she has now found a job that makes her happy – as a freelance mermaid and as a designer of mermaid tails and tops.
She has worked a range of events, from children’s birthday parties and festivals – where sometimes she has to carry traveling tanks and do underwater choreographies.
Jasmine, of Newbury, Berks, said: “Little Mermaid was my favorite film – to do this as a job it’s just a dream.
“The other half is spent making costumes as I have a studio where I work in from home for other mermaids.
“I have been doing it for five years and even when I am not well I can just work from my pajamas so it just really suits me.”
Growing up in the Isle of Wight, Jasmine said she always “loved swimming and diving in the sea”.
Jasmine completed a course that covered freediving and how to safely hold your breath.
She said: “I saw this girl from Mermaid Camp and she was one of the first mermaids in the UK. She had some spaces left in mermaid camp in 2018 – so I decided to do it.
“I love dressing up in anything sparkling – I love doing the make up. It does take a lot of time to get ready.”
Jasmine added: “The more realistic, the better you look and more money you can charge.
“It’s my life – I get a lot of work from Instagram and freelance work. I do also work for some agencies like Hire a Mermaid.”
Even though some friends work in aquariums in London as mermaids, Jasmine says that doing aquarium work is “too cold” for her.
She commented: “It’s freezing doing aquarium work – it is hard because the water is too cold and difficult with my illnesses.
“Holding your breath in cold water is like something else. You have to look very natural and you need to get one minute holding your breath – I can only doing 30 seconds.”
Despite being a “dream” job there’s is a lot of work when it comes to being a professional mermaid, explained Jasmine.
She said: “It is a lot of training and time that goes into this.
“Some people don’t realize how much goes into it – it is not just posing as a mermaid.
“If you have to wear a silicon tail you get paid 15 pounds more but once you get it one you can’t walk and take it off.
“Sometimes the work can be very physical – I have a tail that weighs 19 pounds and that’s the heaviest one.”
On November 30 she is competing for Hampshire in the Miss Ocean World UK at Lincoln Arts Centre.
Her reason to enter the competition is about marine conservation and saving the oceans.
One of her outfits for the eco-creative round is made out of 1,000 shredded plastic bags.
She said: “In 25 years there is predicted to be more plastic in the ocean than fish. It is just sad that that is our reality and it is humans who have to fix it.
“I think it is awful that it has got to this point.
“I haven’t really thought about winning. I am just doing as much as I can to raise awareness. We really need to change our ways as humans.”
Jasmine hopes there would soon be full-time mermaid positions like there are in the US.
“That is the only downside – there isn’t any full times for mermaids but hopefully that will change,” she concluded.
