When I saw that Chantelle was offering muddy sessions I decided to give it a go. Although it's something I've always wanted to do I've never had the courage to do a muddy session with anyone before. Having seen some of her videos I thought a session with Chantelle would be a good way of 'breaking my duck'.

On the day, Chantelle and her partner met me before the session to have a coffee and a chat. Chantelle arrived looking very nice, wearing mark-up and with her long blonde hair I did wonder if she had the right appointment seeing that in about an hour's time none of it would be visible! However she reassured me that she would be doing a full mud session. She obviously takes the time and effort to look lovely for her sessions.

As we chatted about the session I soon lost my initial nerves and started to relax. As both Chantelle and her partner are involved in and enjoy 'WAM' it made it easier to feel relaxed and at ease and talk openly about the ideas for the session.

Then off to the clay pits which are located just a short walk from where we had met and are away from the potential for prying eyes. Not only are there areas of clay but also ponds of water in which to wash off after the session.

At first Chantelle did a shoot for her website which I watched with interest. Although not the warmest of days Chantelle dived into, jumped into, dunked her head under and wallowed (in a lady like way!) in the mud. She did this with enthusiasm, a smile and an air of expertise, living up to her title of 'Queen of the Mud'.

Then it was my turn. By this stage any nerves had disappeared and I decided to go for it, getting totally involved. I didn't realise just how muddy you can get and the beauty of this mud is that it's clean (natural clay which doesn't smell)! Pushing each other in, covering each other, getting stuck and head dunking and generally having a laugh. Sorry Chantelle that I couldn't quite pluck up the courage for a full head dunk; I had to leave that to the expert! Chantelle's partner videoed the whole session so I can re-run the fun.

With both of us covered head to toe in mud and weighing several pound more than when we entered the clay pit (the mud really does get everywhere!) we had a wash in a near-by pond to remove most of the mud but not the smile from my face; that's still in place.

At no point was I made to feel I had to hurry up the session or I that I had out-stayed my welcome.

I found Chantelle to be a genuine, warm, approachable and lovely lady. What was obvious throughout was that both Chantelle and her partner genuinely wanted me to have a great time and a day to remember which I certainly did. I'd like to say a big thank you to both of them for what was a very enjoyable experience.

Would I do it again? You bet I would.

Would I recommend a session with Chantelle to other people; definitely.

Thanks to Chantelle for doing what she does and for doing it so well.

Chris

Breaking your what now?

Love that reaction, and going to assume you're not thinking that autocorrect changed the 'i' to a 'u'.

Many years ago, before even the birth of Bea, English cricketers thought that zero looked like a ducks egg. If they were dismissed without scoring, they were 'out for a duck'. They needed to go for it and 'break the duck'. So it evolved into 'doing things for the first time'.

To keep this on-thread, congrats to Chris, and it sounds like you had a great time. Well jel (keeping it Essex!).