‘I’M HAPPIER, HEALTHIER AND LOVING MY NEW LIFE!’ says Sandi

She’s making television history by becoming the first woman to host a major comedy panel show, but Sandi Toksvig admits that without her amazing weight loss, life could have been very different indeed...

Everybody loves Sandi Toksvig. Her column in Good Housekeeping has been giving us a Last Laugh for more than 14 years, and we’ve chuckled along with her irresistible giggling on countless Radio 4 programmes. But for a long time, the writer and presenter hid a secret fear. She worried that she was so overweight and unfit that she would die young, just as her beloved father had. Health problems left her walking with a stick and she felt uncomfortable in the spotlight.

But what a difference a year made...

Since meeting weight-loss guru Louise Parker, Sandi lost four stone, has discovered a love of exercise and regained her confidence. She quit Radio 4’s News Quiz, which she’d chaired for almost a decade, married her long term partner, Debbie, launched a political party and was appointed the new host of BBC Two’s QI, which she describes as her dream job. As she takes over from Stephen Fry, Sandi shares her amazement that it’s taken so long for a woman to get such a plum role – and how she found the courage to do it.