Zack Polanski said he received “lots of emails” enquiring about whether his hypnotherapy techniques could be used to boost the size of other body parts after a news article in which he suggested the practice could increase breast size.
The Green Party leader has faced relentless criticism after he made the controversial remark to a Sun newspaper journalist in 2013 before entering politics.
In a 2019 blog article, titled ‘Politics was never part of the plan’, Mr Polanski said he had been contacted by both men and women seeking similar results.
“I received lots of emails from women of which I always replied that it wasn’t a service we offered but I’d be happy to have a conversation about positive body image,” the former hypnotherapist wrote.
“I also received, even more emails, from men who wanted to know if it worked on other body parts. Needless to say – the answer here again was that it wasn’t a service the clinic provided.”
He added: “I made a mistake which misled people about the work I do with people on body image, and I apologise unreservedly for that.”
Polanski has since said that he was misrepresented in the Sun article, which he said did not communicate the work he carried out as a hypnotherapist.
However, in the same 2019 article, he wrote: “None of this is to say that the journalist did a bad job or misrepresented me.”
He said: “When I saw the article it was clear the attention on body image and being comfortable with exactly how you are was not given the focus I wanted. But that’s a lesson learned.”
Speaking to LBC in 2024, when he was deputy leader of the Greens, Mr Polanski was asked about the article and said: “I apologised immediately, the day after the article 11 years ago, to say that doesn’t represent my work… I apologised because I recognise that can be offensive to people.”
When asked in September 2025 whether he believed at the time that hypnosis could enlarge a woman’s breasts, Mr Polanski echoed his stance and said: “No.”
However, a resurfaced BBC Radio Humberside interview from 18 June 2013 – six days after the initial report – appears to show Mr Polanski doubling down on his theory.
“Actually increasingly more and more as I work with people, there’s starting to become anecdotal evidence, at least, of a growth in breast size,” he told presenter Peter Levy.
Mr Polanski said he believed “it can happen” and spoke of a “successful project” with the journalist, adding that “at the moment I’m not charging people for breast enhancement”.
The Green Party has been contacted for a comment.
