ITV Pop Idol's Michelle McManus shares 'struggle' as 'discovery' led to nine stone weight loss

Michelle McManus has wowed fans as she shared the secret to her weight transformation. The 44-year-old shot to stardom when in 2003 when she won the second season of Pop Idol.

Michelle continues to enjoy a career in entertainment as she hosts a show on BBC Radio Scotland and is preparing a return to the stage this festive season with Winter Wonderland. She keeps fans updated with her life away from showbiz on Instagram and wowed followers as she shared an incredible update from her fitness journey.

Michelle took to Instagram this month to reveal she has dropped nine stone in just under two years. Michelle said the key to her transformation was introducing strength training and weight lifting into her exercise.

She shared snaps from inside the gym with the caption: "One of the greatest joys I’ve experienced over the past 19 months is the discovery of functional strength training."

She added: "For so long exercise was the enemy. I did everything to avoid it, as I didn’t have the belief or confidence in myself that I could do it. It always seemed beyond me and something only other people were good at.

"That all changed when I met @thrivefitnessglasgow. By that point I had already lost a significant amount of weight through calorie deficit and I wanted to move on to my next goal, getting strong and fit. Jenna’s approach was not to measure how fast I could run or how much I could lift, but instead it was more about creating a strong mind and body for my everyday life.

"Thrive Fitness Glasgow is such a safe space. Jenna has brought together a really vibrant community of people all with different levels of fitness who are looking to get strong and put effective practices into place to enhance their life experience. It has been so beneficial to not only my physical health, but my mental wellbeing too."

Michelle said she started her fitness journey eight months after giving birth to her second child. She said: "Even though life was going great for me, at the time I was very tired both physically and mentally.

"If I’m honest, I was also struggling with my fitness - caring for two babies under three was my priority and working on myself was not something I had dedicated time to considering, let alone doing."

Michelle has been flooded with messages of support on recent photos she has shared on Instagram. Dann said: "Looking gorg! You're doing so well! X"

Dian added: "Looking absolutely incredible darling x" Sara posted: "You look amazing Michelle" Kaylee commented: "You look amazing Michelle"