Woman Dubbed As UK’s ‘Hottest Plumber’ Shares How She Often Encounters Sexist Remarks From Clients

If you’ve been working in the same industry for the past 15 years, it’s safe to assume you’re pretty good at what you do and you deserve some respect for it. To this day, however, Carly Gayle still struggles with the latter as she often encounters sexist remarks from her clients.

You see the 30-year-old proud mother-of-one from Crewe, Cheshire works as a plumber and she’s been doing that since she was 15 when she started out by helping her father during weekends.

Fast forward to the present, she now runs her own plumbing business and she earns £36,000 a year.

To this day, the reactions she gets when she visits homes to provide her service is often mixed.

In A DailyMail feature, Carly said:

“When I was an apprentice 13 years ago, there were almost no women around in plumbing and I have had a lot of comments over the years.”

Some customers express surprise and disbelief when she arrives at their homes.

“People have said ‘where’s the man?’ when I’ve turned up at jobs before, and I’ve also had people not believe I’m qualified or actually able to do the job.

“There’s been other times I’ve been in B&Q in my normal clothes with my handbag, looking at tools – knowing exactly what I’m looking for – and have had groups of lads come up to me and say ‘don’t hurt yourself, darling’.

“I just flash them my Gas Safe register card, and they soon shut up.”

“The comments used to get to me, but they’re only served to make me really thick skinned,” said Carly.

She further confessed:

“It’s a very dirty job, I come home with wood shavings in my bra and knickers, when you’re drilling through wood it gets absolutely everywhere.

“I love having my nails done like every other girl but I can’t have them on when I’m working because I can’t pick screws up or any other fiddly bits.

“So when I’m desperate to have them for a holiday or other occasion I have to duct tape them up.”

In some cases, people compliment the blond plumber for her looks and physique.

“I once had a woman tell me ‘you look like a model – I can’t believe you’re a plumber'” she shared.

Carly met her supportive husband Danny, 31, in her work and now they’re parents to 3-year-old Marcus.

“When we met Danny thought it was brilliant that I was training to become a plumber, he loved it.”

Since they got married, she has since taught him some skills.

“I used to do a lot of the practical jobs around the house, but since we have been married he likes to do a lot more of that kind of stuff – so I taught him how do to it.

“Now his friends ring him up asking how to bleed a radiator, because they know I’ve shown him how.”

Of course, there are also certain advantages for being a woman in her chosen profession.

“A lot of my customers really like the fact I’m a woman too, especially other women and older people that are on their own.

“I’m so grateful that I got into a trade because I have so much knowledge and I have earned good money, probably more than most women my age.”