Scots Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus has opened up about the ‘dark thoughts’ that sparked her weight-loss journey on Good Morning Britain.
During her appearance on the ITV breakfast show with Kate Garraway and Rob Rinder, the 44-year-old revealed how she lost a remarkable nine stone.
Michelle said: “In my 20s and 30s I was so focused on going back to Scotland and having a go at this broadcast career and really making myself a success that I didn’t really focus at all on my weight.”
Speaking of her life now, after meeting her husband Jeff Nimmo and having two sons with him, who are now four and two, she admitted that everything changed for her.
Michelle explained: “When I had my children, it was like a light switch went off because all of a sudden it wasn’t about me anymore.
“I just started to have seriously dark thoughts about me passing away and not being there for the kids.”
Michelle also gave up drinking six years ago on a permanent basis when she fell pregnant with her first child and hasn’t looked back since.
Pressing her on how she actually lost the weight, Rob asked whether or not she had taken Ozempic, which she denied as she explained she is type one diabetic.
The mum-of-two admitted that the more she tried to lose weight, the more she found herself gaining it.
She added: “I was looking at myself in the mirror and I should be thinking, ‘Look this body has given you these two kids and your career is going great’ but I was really miserable when I looked in the mirror.”
In recent years, the Scot has prioritised health over size and has transformed her body through exercise and a calorie deficit.
She previously admitted that for a long time, she viewed exercise as the ‘enemy’ but has now discovered that functional strength training is one of the ‘greatest joys’ in her life, boosting both her physical and mental health.
The singer, who rose to fame in 2003 after winning the second series of Pop Idol, attends a Glasgow based gym called Thrive Fitness where she has sessions with her personal trainer.
Michelle has been keeping her Instagram followers in the loop with regular updates on her weight loss journey.
She told Kate and Rob: “I don’t use social media, I’m hopeless on social media and I thought, ‘You know, for the first time in my life I’m going to put myself back out there’.
Speaking of the positive reaction she has received online, she said: “It’s been the most joyous experience on social media, people have been so positive and it’s been lovely. I think the message is exactly what you said, it’s body positivity.
“It’s not because that person before wasn’t beautiful, I just couldn’t connect with that person in the mirror and now I’m in a place where I look at myself and I really like what I see and I’m really happy.”
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