Margaret Eadsforth was put forward for BBC 1 programme What Not to Wear by her colleagues at Houghton-based McInerney Homes, who decided a makeover was desperately overdue.
The 50-year-old denied she needed help, believing her long dark skirts, dresses and hairstyle – unchanged since she got married in 1974 – looked fine.
The show's presenters, Mica Paris and Lisa Butcher, and its production crew agreed with her workmates, picking her from a shortlist of 80 to show her just how stylish she could be.
But the sales and marketing manager says there was more to the experience than changing the way she dresses – it helped her face up to the trauma bullies put her through as a youngster.
Her leg was broken in an attack when she was seven and jibes were made about her height, leading her to try and disguise her tall frame beneath her clothes.
The grandmother admits she battled with programme makers when they tried to get her to wear the kind of outfits she always shunned and was told she was one of the most determined people they have featured.
But despite her reluctance, she is now wearing five-inch heels and colourful jackets and has taken to the short, trendy hair-do, which replaced her long style.
She said: "It was very interesting and emotional. The show is more than just clothes. They go into why you dress the way you do and made me look at that.
"I was bullied as a child because I was tall, but from then I hid it. After 43 years I've faced up to my demons.
"It was hard, but I'm pleased I did it because I'm a more confident person."
Margaret will be surrounded by her family, which includes husband Tony, 53, daughter Claire, 31, son Anthony, 29, and grandchildren Oscar, 18 months, and Tristan, three, at her home in Trimdon Grange for the show when it goes out as the series finale at 8pm today.