Emmerdale star Lisa Riley lost 12st over 18 months to get the body of her dreams, but was instead left unable to work out due to agonising rolls of loose skin

Lisa Riley embarked on a life-changing journey, transforming her body from a size 28 to a size 12 and losing 12st in the process.

Over an 18-month period, the Emmerdale star turned her back on takeaways and junk food and instead embraced the gym and healthy eating.

The results were remarkable, but instead of being left with the body of her dreams, Lisa, 46, found herself covered in painful folds of skin, weighing more than 1.5 stone.

In her documentary, Lisa Riley’s Baggy Body Club, the TV star heartbreakingly said she felt like a ‘saggy mess’, and that she was ‘revolted’ by her own image.

She lost 12st over 18 months ( 
Image:
ITV)

She said: “When I made the ­decision to lose weight, I never for one second imagined that I would end up looking like that. It never occurred to me that the loose skin would be so bad.

“I thought why on earth have I lost all this weight? I looked worse than I did when I was obese. And it was the pain as well. The skin was flapping about and dragging.”

Lisa felt she was left with no option but to go under the knife. She could have had surgery in secret, but she took the brave decision to allow the documentary crew to follow her to highlight the ­problems faced by thousands of people who lose weight each year.

The Loose Women presenter said: “I wanted to show the brutality of it. In life you can’t sympathise or have empathy with anybody unless you can see it.

Lisa was left with rolls of spare skin ( 
Image:
ITV)

The Emmerdale star said the rolls were causing her extreme pain ( 
Image:
ITV)me of her new friends in person, to hear their stories.

Despite being terrified of surgery, the chats gave her the confidence to go under the knife.

She said: “The night before the surgery, I was so petrified everybody thought I wasn’t going to go through with it.

“I was thinking that in 11 hours I could be dead. I might not wake up.

“Could I have lived with the loose skin for the rest of my life? Yes, but I wouldn’t have been happy. I don’t feel like I have had cosmetic surgery, I have corrected what I had done to myself.

A thrilled Lisa Riley showed her post surgery body to her best friend Kate ( 
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ITV)
“Nobody made me eat 50 Twix bars, or a whole packet of sausages at one sitting. I did that to myself. No one made me not go to the gym.

“Some weeks I was probably having seven takeaways a week. I did that to myself. I have to take responsibility for that.”

Lisa had four operations – a fleur de lis tummy tuck which left her with vertical and ­horizontal scars, surgery to remove the loose skin from her thighs, a boob lift and the removal of her “bingo wings”.

Lisa underwent four surgeries to remove the skin folds ( 
Image:
ITV)
It took Lisa several long, painful months to recover from the surgery, which she insisted is no easy route to a slim physique. But now she couldn’t be more thrilled with her new body.

She added: “I had never been able to wear sexy underwear, before it was all just functional, mumsy bras and big knickers. Now I can wear little sexy sets.

“On the train from Manchester to London, the old me would have had a coffee, baguette, red wine, crisps and a cake.

“Now I plan my meals and order a ­sparkling water, people can’t believe it.”