Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LISA RILEY My amazing new body...
LISA RILEY ON HER OP AFTER LOSING 11ST
Standing naked in front of the mirror, Lisa Riley did not recognise the woman staring back at her. Gone were the rolls of ugly, loose skin that had plagued her since her dramatic 11-stone weight loss. She couldn’t believe she might finally have the body she craved her entire life. In Lisa’s first newspaper interview since the life-changing operation, the actress reveals how she feared she would die as she underwent extensive surgery to remove a stone of excess skin. Speaking from her new home in London, Lisa says: “I can’t even begin to tell you how I felt the first time I looked in the mirror naked post-surgery. “It was three weeks after the operation and I just couldn’t believe it was me. It was complete disbelief. I had a flat stomach for the first time ever. “But sometimes I still see obese Lisa. I think it will still be the case for a long time. Sometimes it takes my breath away when I see the new me.” She adds of her transformation: “I don’t drink alcohol any more – the girl who could down a few bottles of wine is dead and buried to me now.” Just nine weeks ago the Loose Women star, 40, had the four-hour operation to take excess skin off her stomach, hips, legs and groin. She had spent the previous two years losing weight via diet and exercise, dropping from size 28 to a 12-14. But nothing would get rid of the resulting loose skin. Terrified though she was of surgery, she felt she had no choice if she wanted the body she’d worked so hard for. “I had fear like I have never, ever known,” Lisa explains. “I just thought to myself I wasn’t going to wake up. “When I was gowned up and going down to theatre it was horrendous. I was terrified but my surgeon Rob Winterton, at Spire Manchester [Hospital] has this unbelievable calming effect on me.” After the surgery, a nurse came to Lisa’s house daily for three weeks to help her wash and check the wounds. And for the first month, she had to wear a compression corset. Yet the 2012 Strictly Come Dancing star believes it was all worth it. She is now a comfortable size 12. Lisa says: “I remember being in Strictly and looking at Tess Daly wearing those gorgeous dresses with the fab gold belt; never in a million years did I ever think I’d be able to wear them. But now I can. “I don’t have to think about covering up.” But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Lisa got infections in her legs, which she puts down to not heeding the surgeon’s advice
to rest up. She moved from hometown Bury, Greater Manchester, just three-and-a-half weeks after surgery. Lisa admits: “I did too much. I ended up with infections in my leg wounds and am now on my fifth week of antibiotics.” But she is preparing for a second surgery next month to tighten skin on her breasts and arms, which should make her a size 10-12. This time, the fear has gone. “There is a little niggle, but I don’t have that overwhelming fear I had last time,” Lisa says. “The surgery is the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. I have scars but they don’t matter, they will fade.” She adds: “The difference between the top half of my and the bottom half is staggering. I will be the finished article after this.” The former You’ve Been Framed host, who rose to fame as Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle, has been praised for losing weight slowly and not getting a gastric band. But she says: “People keep telling me I’ve gone too far, that the weight loss has aged me. But they’re comparing photos of me aged 30 and 40.” The star adds: “I do feel pressure not to gain weight now. When someone calls you slimmer of the year it’s like being Miss World; you don’t want your crown taken away. People keep telling me to stop now, but stop what? I’ve changed my lifestyle for the better.” Lisa, who was in comedy Fat Friends, also has new work avenues. “I don’t have to go for the fat, funny roles any more.” The actress has a role in Three Girls, the BBC’S upcoming drama about Rochdale sex abuse rings. She says: “It is the most powerful drama I’ve been involved in, I’m so proud of it. I want to do roles that are different.” Lisa has also been designing a summer range for her clothing busibody ness Just Be You and was inspired to launch her perfume, Change. She says: “My surgeon said to me that you have to embrace the change in your life. That is exactly what I want to do. I had the opportunity to create a perfume and put a stamp on the new me. “I am so chuffed with the name of the perfume as it speaks volumes about what has happened to me, and it smells fresh and alive, which is how I now feel. “It is celebrating everything I’ve gone through, and how I’ve come out the other side with a fresh, exciting path ahead of me.” Lisa Riley’s new perfume Change, £19.99, and her new Just Be You summer range launch exclusively on shopping channel Idealworld.tv at 9pm tomorrow. Offers run to Thursday, April 27.
People keep telling me to stop now, but stop what? I’ve changed my life for the better LISA RILEY ON BEING TOLD BY TROLLS SHE HAS TAKEN WEIGHT LOSS TOO FAR