CBB’S Sally Morgan: “I dropped ten dress sizes after being told I’d die”

‘Psychic Sally’ opens up about her weight loss following doctors’ warnings she was at risk of a fatal heart attack – and reveals she plans to do readings for her housemates

ally Morgan looks slim S and the picture of health at 67. But just nine years ago, the star weighed 27st and, after suffering a shock heart attack, was told she’d die if she didn’t lose weight. However, since having gastric bypass surgery in 2009, Sally, who’s 5ft 1, has dropped a staggering 16½st and halved her dress size.

“After my heart scare, doctors told me I’d die if I carried on the way I was because I was at risk of having another massive heart attack. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach,” she tells Closer. “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t die, I want to see my grandchildren get married’. I didn’t have the weight-loss op to look good – it was to save my life.”

Sally – who’s worked with celebrities and royals including Princess Diana – says she was just four when she saw her first ghost. As she grew older, she would give readings to friends at parties and, as her psychic ability grew, she started practising as a professional medium in her early thirties.

OUT OF CONTROL

She’s since made a name for herself touring the world using her talents to help people communicate with their dead relatives – a gift she calls her “psychic duty.” She says, “I see my talents as a blessing. It gives people hope that when our body dies, we haven’t actually disappeared completely.”

Sally, who’s been married to husband John for 43 years and has three grown-up daughters, admits she hasn’t always struggled with her weight, but that yo-yo dieting and giving readings from home from the age of 32 led to the pounds piling on.

“I remember never going over 7½st until I was in my early thirties,” she explains. “But at 32, I started to do one-to-one readings from home, so I was pretty much sedentary, and I started eating bigger portions. I’d sit around working all day, then go to the fridge and eat a whole pack of ham.”

Sally admits her eating habits spiralled out of control and despite trying various diets over the years, her weight steadily increased over the next two decades. In her mid-fifties, she weighed 27st and was a size 32.

“I remember having a cup of tea with my daughter and we had a packet of hot cross buns, and she said to me, ‘You’ve just eaten six hot cross buns’. I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t being mindful and my problem was always portion control. I’d have ten roast potatoes rather than three, and whatever John didn’t eat, I’d finish too.”

Sally, who admits she lived in “leggings and flowing tops”, began to become concerned about her health when she started getting pneumonia each year. But the biggest shock came when she had a heart attack in 2009, weighing 27st and with a BMI of 73.8 – three times more than the healthy BMI of 20-25.

LIFE-SAVING SURGERY

She reveals, “The doctors told me I needed to lose 11st for my heart to be healthy and that, at my age, I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own. They said I had more chance of dying from another heart attack than the surgery [a gastric bypass, where surgeons staple your stomach to reduce its volume], so it was a no brainer.”

In 2009, Sally had the two-hour operation. She lost 16½st in the following two years, going down to 10½st and a size 12-14.

“I lived on liquid for months after the operation,” she explains. “I had it done in January and that August I went on holiday and had a piece of fish, a potato and a tomato – the first meal I’d eaten in six months. I still find it hard not being able to eat normal things. I dish up normal portions for myself, which makes me feel better, but of course I

can only eat a small amount of it.”

After shedding the weight, Sally was left with more than half a stone of loose skin. In 2012, she had it removed from her stomach and breasts.

“My belly button was on my pubic line and my nipples were at my waist,” she says. “They removed 5½lbs of loose skin from my legs and 2½lbs from my breasts. They also put in some small silicone implants to shape my breasts. I’d like my legs done now, but the surgery is expensive [around £25,000]. You can still see curtains of fat when I’m wearing trousers, so it’d be nice to have them done one day, but I can’t complain. I’ve not had anything done to my face, but a chin-lift would be nice.”

Six years after reaching her current weight, Sally is still amazed by her new body.

She says, “I was in a restaurant recently and screamed because I’d crossed my legs without even thinking. I used to have to sit with my legs apart because they were so huge and my stomach came out a lot. It’s all those things you don’t think about if you’ve not been obese.

FEELING BLESSED

“I feel lucky. I’m 67 and I feel blessed that I’ve had the surgery because it saved my life. I had my blood pressure taken recently and it was normal, I couldn’t believe it.”

But speaking to Sally before she went into the Celebrity Big Brother house, she admitted she was nervous what the housemates would make of her career. She explains, “I hope people accept what I do, my work is an acquired taste – I’m very Marmite, so I’m hoping my work doesn’t offend anyone. I’ve got so much time to give readings if that’s what they want! It’s going to be an interesting experience and I’m looking forward to it.”