SHE is the new Real Housewives
of Cheshire star who will make a spectacular entrance in the eighth series.
And yoga instructor Perla Navia, 35, is full of surprises.
She is also the perfect advert for the benefits of yoga as she credits the exercise with taking her from a size 16 down to her trim size 6 figure today.
Perla, originally from Colombia, says: “I started yoga in 2012 but I come from a background of no exercise, I was overweight and a size 16, but finding yoga, everything changes, that’s why I stick to it.
“When I found yoga it wasn’t about losing weight, it was about emotional healing and then the body came afterwards. I’m now a size 6.”
Perla says it was a gradual shape up over the years, but admits that moving to Cheshire with her husband made her more ‘body conscious’.
She says: “I was happy with everything, but I became a little bit more conscious when I came to Cheshire. I knew when I found yoga it did the trick for me, not because I was losing weight, more the internal healing that was taking place.”
Perla lives with husband Jonathan Barton in Wilmslow - the couple met when both were in Barcelona.
Jonathan made his millions with his own meat firm JS Barton Ltd, which he has grown into a £60m food service operation company Sandersons Limited. But, incredibly, Perla is vegan despite her hubby’s butcher roots.
She says: “I am totally vegan. He’s a butcher. But it does work, because I have two kitchens in my house, there are no dead bodies in my kitchen, but in the family kitchen they do have the flesh.
“I cannot change my family mentality and my family do consume animal products, it’s nothing I can change for them. But you can imagine, steaks fly in the house, I even wear gloves to touch it. I used to be a big meat eater, but I decided to go vegan four years ago. I saw the light and educated myself on the consequences so I gave it up.”
Perla has two children of her own aged 18 and 12, and Jonathan has two children from his previous marriage.
She says she’d never seen a single episode of the Real Housewives of Cheshire before agreeing to star in it.
She said: “Ultimately it’s about expanding my business, it’s a platform. My main business is based on yoga, but I also do teacher training in Israel, New York and Barcelona, and I also have my own clothing line. I’m very lucky to have my own business base at home.”