Super-svelte Charlotte Church has revealed the secret diet plan that helped her lose four stone and regain her sexy size 8 figure… she simply ate less.
Mum-of-two Charlotte – married to Welsh rugby star Gavin Henson – ballooned to a size 16 after giving birth to Ruby, two, and Dexter, 14 months.
The 24-year-old singer and TV star was so desperate to shed weight she turned to professional sportsman Gavin, 28, for help but had to give up after just two training runs left her “close to a heart attack”.
She denies claims she resorted to a gastric band, saying: “It’s very simple, my weight loss. I just eat better and eat less food than I used to.
“So that means less stodge, less junk food like burgers and chips and smaller portions, with meals consisting of things like lean meat and salad.
“I certainly haven’t embarked on some great exercise regime to get slim. Exercise is alien to me and I don’t like doing it.
“Gavin took me out on a couple of training runs but it was way too much for me. I told him I’d have a heart attack if I carried on so I stopped. I should have realised that it would be a mistake.
“Gavin is a trained sportsman and his regime is punishing, way too much for me, what with all the sprints and super-short rests in between.
“They may be great for a rugby player but they left me feeling absolutely knackered. I only took part in them because I knew I’d have to lose weight after my babies were born.
“I did eat vast amounts when I was expecting Ruby and Dexter and inevitably piled on the pounds.”
But, she adds: “Gavin has never put pressure on me to lose weight – he’s always been happy, whatever shape I’ve been.
“And I have to say that I’ve always felt comfortable in my skin and never felt pressure to lose weight just to alter my appearance.
“But I do now have the perfect incentive to lose weight and get more in trim – and that’s my kids. I want to be around for them for as long as I possibly can be. Being fit and healthy will help me do that. Gavin, Ruby and Dexter are my life and the work is a sideline.
“That doesn’t mean to say I don’t take it seriously – I do. But at the heart of my life are my family. I hate to be apart from them.
“I breastfed both of my children and I’m looking forward to being around when Ruby goes to school. I want to be that mum on the school run – for both her and Dexter. I want to be a hands-on parent.”
Charlotte – who shot to fame 13 years ago as a child star – has sold more than 10 million albums and is busy working on a new one.
The former chat show host is also back on TV, as a judge on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show Over The Rainbow – a competition to find a Dorothy for the composer’s stage version of The Wizard Of Oz.
During filming Charlotte insisted on taking her children with her.
“I just like having them close at hand rather than leaving them at home with Gavin in Wales,” she says.
“But it’s a great series to be a part of, although I’d be lying if I said I find all aspects of it easy to deal with. It slowly dawned on me when we were going through the pre-series elimination rounds, how much it meant to the girls taking part.
“I perhaps didn’t realise just how important it was to them when I started on the show.
“I’ve never really been that ambitious because I had the good fortune to have fame thrust upon me when I was very young and that satisfied any hunger for ambition that I might have had.”
Charlotte admits she struggled with having to tell people they were not up to scratch.
“Some of these girls were clearly desperate to become the new Dorothy.
“Having to go and put a hand on their shoulder and eliminate them was difficult for me because you could see from the looks on their faces how hurt they were, how much the chance of West End success meant to them.
"And some of them who I had to say ‘no’ to clearly took it very personally and gave me a look which was pretty unpleasant. Although that is the nature of the business we’re in, it’s really hard and sometimes very harsh.
“It’s quite brutal and you have to be really strong to start off with. It’s hard to tell people they didn’t quite make the grade, but that is our industry.
“It’s the same with every job – unless you perform then you’re going to get sacked.”
But Charlotte has never been busier.
Her new album is out this summer. “It’s completely different to what I’ve done before and I’m really excited about it,” she says.
And she is still supporting Gavin as he rebuilds his rugby career after a run of injuries.
“Gav just needed to take a break and get himself totally clear of the injuries which had been blighting his career and he’s now regained his fitness and is in good shape,” she says.
Charlotte’s fellow judges on her new TV show are West End star John Partridge, 38, who plays Christian Clarke in EastEnders, and actress Sheila Hancock, 77.
But she’s not sure if any of them will take on a Simon Cowell-style “Mr Nasty” persona.
The Cardiff-born singer – who showed off her trim new figure in a tight black dress on BBC’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross – says: “It’s hard to judge at the moment if anyone will play that role.
“John is the most straight-talking out of us all but I don’t think any of us are unnecessarily harsh.”
Thousands of would-be Dorothys turned up for open auditions – and many of them even went along in their own versions of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the classic film.
Producers whittle them down to 110 girls to try out in front of the panel – who will then choose the best 54 to train at a musical boot camp called Dorothy Farm.
Live shows start in the third week and viewers will get to vote on their favourite 10 finalists.
The winner will play the farm girl whisked to the Land of Oz in a version which will feature seven new songs by Lord Lloyd-Webber, 61.
OVER The Rainbow starts on BBC1 on Friday, March 26.
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