Newark Slimming World consultants celebrate 50 years of success by meeting former X-Factor contestant and presenter of Big Brother’s Little Brother Rylan Clark-Neal

Three slimming consultants from Newark have celebrated half a century of success by meeting television personality and presenter Rylan Clark-Neal.

The three Slimming World consultants, Ellie Gray, Tracey Hunt and Sara Whittaker, met the star at the annual Slimming World Awards in Birmingham.

Slimming World marks its 50th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1969 by Margaret Miles-Bramwell, who co-hosted the awards.

Over the last 50 years it has grown to become one of the UK’s leading group-based weight-management organisations, today supporting nearly 1m slimmers.

Ellie, Tracey and Sara, who all run Slimming World groups in Newark, were delighted to get a chance to meet Rylan.

Ellie said meeting the television host was a wonderful way to round off a great year for the Slimming World, as well as a brilliant way to lead into 2019.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our members,” she said. “Not only have they lost fantastic amounts of weight throughout 2018, with many of them hitting their target weights ­— they have also improved their health, boosted their confidence, and are heading into 2019 with new healthy habits that will stay with them for life.

“Watching people change before my eyes and start being able to do things that they didn’t think were possible before losing weight absolutely amazes me.

“Every week I feel privileged to play even a small part in people’s achievements and to celebrate with them, so I felt honoured to represent our Slimming World groups at the awards.”

Rylan is now a seasoned presenter having appeared on This Morning and Channel 5’s Big Brother’s Little Brother.

“I met so many people who had lost incredible amounts of weight and made a huge difference to their lives,” he said.

“While the stories I heard were obviously very personal, the one thing they all had in common was how much support they received from their Slimming World family, and how so many of them were achieving their dreams.

“Every one of them spoke passionately about how they couldn’t have made those changes to eat more healthily and become more active without the support of their consultant and group every week.

“It’s clear that the people who run the groups each week are worth their weight in gold.”

Tracey said 2018 had been a brilliant year for Slimming World.

“We have launched our Slim For Life plan to give even more support to our target members, and won awards for both our magazine and food range,” she said.

“We have some exciting activities planned to celebrate our 50th birthday, including new websites and apps, golden events and special publications.

“I truly believe that joining a local Slimming World group is the best way for people to lose weight, learn new habits and make long-term healthy changes.

“At the Newark groups they will discover a whole world of support and advice that is sure to help them achieve their targets ­— and have a lot of fun along the way too.”