Martine McCutcheon: Battles with ME and Lyme disease helped inspire weight loss

The actress and Loose Women panellist, 40, said she now feels more confident than ever.

Martine in this week’s Hello! (Hello!)

She told Hello! magazine: “Before I lost the weight I’d switch the confidence on when I needed to.

“In the industry I’ve grown up in, you’re so scrutinised, it’s what you do – you put on your face and go out there, even if inside you don’t feel at all good about yourself.

“Now, that confidence feels more genuine. I set myself a goal and I’ve achieved it and, while a stone might not sound like a lot to some people, on my frame it has made a huge difference, not just to how I look but how I feel about myself.”

Martine McCutcheon in February 2016 (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Martine said she lost more than 20 inches from her body using the Cambridge Weight Plan diet because she wants to be healthy for her husband Jack McManus and their son Rafferty, two.

She told the magazine: “Because I’ve spent so long fighting to feel healthy again, I didn’t want to do anything too drastic that was going to make me feel lousy, but after having Rafferty I found it so tough to lose my baby weight and that does start to affect your self-esteem.

“I give thanks every single day that motherhood is something I’ve been blessed to experience. It sounds like such a cliche but having Rafferty really did put everything into perspective.

“All those things I’d worried about all my life – the career, the weight – all seemed trivial in comparison to this little person we had created. Once I’d got that perspective, the rest seemed to fall into place.”

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Martine has previously said she endured years of body shaming as a young actress, as people talked about her like she was “a piece of meat”.

(Hello!)