‘I owe a lot to the show that made me a good dad’
A FORMER contestant on Operation Transformation has said he would like the programme to stay on-air as it made him a better husband and father.
While RTÉ yesterday announced that the show will be axed, there are those who feel the programme helped to bring the obesity crisis into the mainstream.
Ronan Scully appeared on the show 11 years ago and his life has changed for the better since, he told the Irish Daily Mail.
He has completed marathons at the North Pole and has just returned from his 11th walk among the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Mr Scully, who is the business development and fundraising representative for Self Help Africa, said he still likes to watch the show to see what challenges he can get involved in.
He said: ‘I would like to see it stay, it brings back memories, it makes you think: “Let’s put on the auld runners” or: “What challenge am I going to do this year?” I think it would be a shame to see it go.’
Regarding body shaming and if he ever felt uncomfortable on Operation Transformation, Mr Scully responded: ‘No, not at all. Nothing like that in the slightest. For me personally, I never got any bad things said to me. It was more the opposite really. I had people encouraging me and I was hearing other people’s stories and bits from those people helped me out.
‘My story was not about losing the weight. It was about looking at your life and getting the balance right, not just from an eating point of view but maybe thinking about putting your family first. I can’t speak more highly enough about people who were in charge. [Dr] Eddie [Murphy] to Karl [Henry] to Kathryn [Thomas] were brilliant. She helped out a lot with me.’
Obesity expert Professor Donal O’Shea believes Operation Transformation helped create long-lasting changes in Irish society and to how obesity is viewed by society.
He told the Mail: ‘It was a programme of its time that played its own part in informing the discussion and debate around obesity. It put obesity in the mainstream of discussion for a few months every year and led to initiatives like Ireland Lights Up. It lobbied for policy change – sugar tax and calorie posting. It employed a multi-disciplinary team approach to addressing weight.
‘As a public service broadcasting output, it has had a positive influence in a lot of places.’
Mr Scully said: ‘I had a very good experience on it and it helped me in my living and to be able to balance things out with where I was going with my life.
‘I enjoyed being on it and I’m still friends with contestants and people involved in the show even though it has been 11 years since I was on it. I was back in the early days, if you get me. It was a different programme then than it was. It was about helping one another, trying to help people and to give people hope and that life is for living.’
Mr Scully added: ‘I have two beautiful adopted children from Ethiopia and they helped me get my act together, and the show did as well and helped me to be a good dad and a good husband. I am very thankful to those people who helped me along the way.’
‘It would be a shame to see it go’