Michelle McManus appeared on Thursday’s Loose Women where she spoke about her recent nine stone weight loss, leaving the studio in awe

Michelle McManus made a heartbreaking admission as she opened up about her nine stone weight loss.

The Pop Idol icon, 44, appeared on Thursday’s Loose Women where panellist Coleen Nolan said: “I mean, you look fabulous, you’ve lost nine stone?”

To which Michelle responded: “Yeah, thank you! I had gained a lot of weight in Covid, I had my two babies back to back, I gained a lot of weight. I think you can be beautiful at any size, that’s not what it’s about, but I think for me, honestly, I just got to the stage where I was looking in the mirror and crying.

Michelle McManus made a heartbreaking admission as she opened up about her nine stone weight loss ( 
Image:
ITV)
“I’m like: ‘I should love my body, I’ve just had these two babies in my 40s’ and I was really proud of that but I was just looking at myself going: ‘I feel miserable’. Then I just decided, I got this amazing life coach, just cut my calories, started going to the gym!”

The star added: “I’m wearing a size 18 jumpsuit, which I never thought I’d actually say, but you know I’m a size 18. For a lot of people, that’s where they start their journey, but for me I’ve got to 16-18 and I’m like: ‘I’m so happy here, this is where I’m happy’, I do, I feel really content.”

In 2005, Michelle, who shot to fame in 2003 when she won the second and final series of Pop Idol, appeared on Channel 4 dieting programme You Are What You Eat. Not long after, the plucky Scot brought out a book and DVD about weight loss.

The Feeling Good star told celebrity dietician Gillian McKeith that some nights she would have burgers, chips and eight whiskey and cokes – in one night.

However, after Gillian set out a new regime, which made Michelle quit booze altogether for five months, the singer managed to shift an impressive nine stone after previously weighing 23 stone when she was on Pop Idol.

The Pop Idol icon, 44, appeared on Thursday’s Loose Women to discuss her weight loss
Six years ago, Michelle decided to give up alcohol for good after falling pregnant with her first child. She said she relied on booze as a way to cope with low self-confidence, but said by her mid-30s she became worried about her safety after she would ‘black out’ after a night out.

Speaking on the Why Aren’t You Drinking podcast, the Glasgow-born star said: “I stopped drinking in 2019 on the day I got my positive pregnancy test and it was a blessing for so many reasons.

“Falling pregnant helped me make the massive decision to give up alcohol which I had been too scared to make. I didn’t really know who I was without alcohol, not because I felt really that I was dependent on it, but it had been such a huge part of my life and my persona.

“It was a form of escapism when I maybe wasn’t reading such nice things about me or I didn’t feel as confident as I do now. Alcohol was a way for me to go ‘Goodbye world’.”