Songfacts®:

• There was speculation that Mika wrote this song as a tribute to Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls," but in promotional materials for Life In Cartoon Motion, he states that this is not the case at all: "I was flying to Los Angeles the next day and I can never sleep because I hate flying so much. So I was watching trashy television, it was two o'clock in the morning, a Victoria Wood documentary on Channel 4. It was about fat people in the United States and she visited a club called the Butterfly Lounge, which was the first place of its kind, a club for larger women to hang out in. Skinny women were not being allowed in. The women were amazing and I absolutely felt as if I had to write about them. I muted the television and wrote it straight away. I never expected it on the album, but a few weeks later we recorded it and it's now there. So it is one of my favorite tracks and brilliant to play live. Everyone sings along!"
• In an interview on Australian Video Hits, Mika states that his mother is big, his aunties are quite big and as a kid, he was picked on, because he also used to be big, so he was touched by this documentary, and wrote the song in 15 minutes. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  E.J - Townsville, Australia, for above 2
• Mika recorded a special version of this song for an episode of the TV show Ugly Betty, changing the chorus to "Hey Betty, you are beautiful." Mika explained to the Sun newspaper: "Betty is a real fashion icon and we should celebrate anyone like her - genuine individuals who stay true to their own identity. That's what 'Big Girl' is all about so it was the perfect fit to change the song for her. It was a huge honor to be asked to do it. I love the show."