She says the trauma of divorce and losing her job made her balloon to a size 20...
It's been a long, tough and often public struggle, but finally Loose Women star Coleen Nolan is completely happy with her body. She's dropped an amazing five dress sizes in three years and her once floundering career has never been healthier.
"If someone had told me eight years ago things would be going so well for me in my 40s, I'd have laughed at them," says Coleen. "My career was at rock bottom and my weight was soaring. But somehow things turned around and, touch wood, they carry on like this."
Because not only does mum-ofthree Coleen look fantastic, but she has just been given her first ever prime-time slot on ITV1, presenting a new Dancing On Ice spin-off show, Dancing On Ice Friday.
"I'm so excited," says Mirror columnist Coleen, 44. "I can't wait to get started. I've had to keep this a secret when all I've wanted to do is tell everyone. I'm hosting it with Ben Shephard and it's all the behind-the-scenes stuff at Dancing on Ice. I can't wait to grill the judges - especially Jason Gardiner."
Coleen, who made it to the semi-finals as a contestant in the hit ice-skating show last year, is relieved she won't be dressed in Lycra this time round.
"Not having to dress in a skintight leotard makes it a little less terrifying this year," she laughs. "Even though I was slimmer than I'd ever been when I was dancing on the show, all the other girls were a lot younger and a hell of a lot slimmer than me.
"But it was good for me because it helped me realise people don't just judge you on your weight and the public kept me in for weeks, even though I wasn't a skinny size six."
And after last year's stunning weight loss, Coleen is now maintaining her new figure through working out and eating sensibly - and not obsessing about her body.
"After a certain point I threw away my scales," she says. "They are total torture for women. They tell you if you've put on a few pounds, but they don't tell you if you've lost a couple of inches, which I think is far more important.
"The best judge of that is your clothes. I don't have a clue what I weigh any more, I don't even think about it. If I look in the mirror and I'm happy, that's good enough for me. If I don't like what I see, I try a bit harder with my exercise and watch what I eat for a couple of days." Until three years ago, Coleen's relationship with food wasn't so rational.
She turned to food to cope with a huge range of emotional issues from her divorce from actor Shane Richie in 1999 to brutal sacking from This Morning two years later.
"You always hear women joking that there's nothing better than a divorce diet," says Coleen. "I can't tell you how many women lose two or three stone when they get divorced, but not me! If anything I put on two stone. If I was happy I'd eat, if I was unhappy I'd eat, any excuse!"
One of the lowest points for Coleen came when she was axed from This Morning in 2001 - just months after having her daughter Ciara with musician - now husband - Ray Fensome. She struggled to find work after the high-profile sacking and battled to keep her weight under control.
"That was an incredibly difficult time," she recalls. "I was presenting the Friday episodes with John Leslie and everything seemed to be going fine until they called me in out of the blue one Thursday. I was a bit anxious but John reassured me that if they were going to sack me they'd have called my agent not me.
"But literally as soon as I sat down they told me they didn't want to use me again. It was that blunt - don't come in tomorrow. They'd got a car to bring me in and sent me home on the Tube. I wasn't even allowed to go to the green room to get my personal things because no one else knew I'd been fired.
"Ray and I had just moved to London from Blackpool with the three kids and had bought a gorgeous house. As soon as Ray picked me up that day we had to go straight to the estate agent to put the house on the market. It was terrifying and for a couple of years I just couldn't get a job in TV.
No one would touch me after that.
"My weight has always mirrored how I feel, and then it went up a lot. I was only 36 but I felt like I was past it - I'd been sacked, I was overweight and really thought my career was over.
"But thankfully the wonderful producers of Loose Women, which I'd appeared on as a guest before This Morning, threw me a lifeline and took me back permanently in 2004. It was just what I needed and things started to turn around," she recalls.
And Coleen hasn't looked back. Since then, as her television career has soared, she has also married Ray, written a best-selling autobiography and today releases her third fitness DVD. "More than 250,000 women have followed my DVDs and helping other women as well as myself is a brilliant feeling. There's no magic wand when it comes to weight loss, its about a long-term commitment," she says.
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"It's so important to feel happy with yourself," says Coleen. "And I know more than anyone that's harder than it sounds. When I was a size 18 or 20, I didn't feel happy with myself. I wasn't manic depressive over it, I was still a happy person overall. But in this industry, there's a lot of pressure.
"Ray loved me anyway, but I think if I'd got any bigger he would have told me to sort it out. He thinks it's brilliant I've lost all the weight, but a lot of that is because I'm happier and much more confident in myself. I'm certainly more confident naked - and obviously that's going to help in a relationship!"
After years of overeating, crash diets and obsessing over her weight, Coleen thinks she has finally got it sussed out.
"None of us will ever be 100% happy with our bodies," she says. "If I got down to a size eight I'd probably want my legs to be three inches longer. But you've got to figure out a place where you're at your happiest.
"It's about changing your mindset and that's been gradual for me after years of mad crash diets. I'd lose three stone in three months, then put it back on plus more in the next six months. My body was in trauma all that time.
"I don't want Ciara growing up around that, with my obsession about dieting. It's about being healthy, not skinny. I'm a size 12 now but I can go up or down a size depending how hard I'm working out. The difference for me now is that if we have friends around and decide to get a takeaway, I don't sit there at the end of it feeling like a disgusting failure.
"Before, I'd give up, feel awful and think I was always destined to be fat. Now I just think 'that was lovely and tomorrow I'll get back to normal and eat healthily, and maybe do an extra session with my DVD'".
Finally at ease with her body and the way her life are career are going, Coleen believes the struggles she's had in the past make her more thankful for what she's got.
"Hats off to ITV for giving me this opportunity," says Coleen. "TV bosses are always getting panned for ageism and sexism and weight-ism, and hiring me proves that not everyone is guilty of it.
"It's amazing they've given this job to a woman of 44 who's not stick-thin. It's an amazing opportunity and I can't wait to get stuck in.
"It will be a lot to do alongside Loose Women, but I'll still be there one or two days a week. I'll also be juggling it with my news series for Sky, The Secret Guide To Women's Health.
"The great thing about all this happening at my age, and maybe the fact I did lose it all at one point, means I'm so grateful every single day that I have these opportunities. If, God forbid, it ended tomorrow, I'd think 'What a fantastic time - how lucky was I?'"
COLEEN NOLAN'S LET'S GET PHYSICAL WORKOUT IS OUT NOW, £19.99.
COMING TOMORROW: MY BODY THROUGH THE YEARS
My no-fail slimming rules
Do an exercise you enjoy. If you hate the gym, don't waste your money on a membership. I love dancing so I burn loads of calories while I'm having fun.
If you can't commit to a regular workout like cycling, swimming or fitness classes, build more activity into your day. Walk the kids to school, get out for a power walk every day with the buggy, and always use the stairs.
Rope your friends in for motivation - I get my mates to come round to do my fitness DVD. We end up having a right laugh and even the kids join in.
Say no to faddy diets - you might lose weight initially but not long-term. As soon as you start eating normally, you'll pile the weight back on.
Make small changes to your diet and you'll see big results. Choose low-fat versions of your favourite foods, swap full-fat milk for semi-skimmed, opt for lean cuts of meat or cut the fat off, and grill instead of frying. Changing your habits will help you lose weight gradually and keep it off.
Allow yourself treats, otherwise you'll be tempted to have a blow out. But make sure it's in moderation - have one biscuit instead of half a packet!
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