A woman who went on the Judge Rinder show to get money back from her cheating ex has lost more than four and a half stone following the breakup.
Lindsay Pownall weighed in at 20.1 stone, the heaviest she had ever been, after her ex Paddy admitted having multiple affair and left her in debt.
On the ITV show, she told the TV judge the revelations "broke" her as she tried to claw back some of the cash he owed her through loans.
Happily for Miss Pownall, Judge Rinder ruled in her favour and she was awarded £5,000, the Liverpool Echo reports.
In the wake of her relationship's breakdown she hid herself away, ashamed about her size and growing more depressed as her self-esteem plummeted to an all-time low.
After the show, the 34-year-old decided to make a change and began trying to lose weight.
Following nine months of hard work and dieting she now weighs 15.4 stone.
Lindsay said her weight often fluctuated but that things had gotten out of control after the breakdown of her relationship.
She said: ""I’ve always struggled with my weight, ever since I was a little girl and grew tall enough to reach the butter dish.
"My mum used to catch me eating butter with my fingers and, even as I’ve grown up, I tend to turn to food as an answer to every mood or emotion I go through."
The former cruise ship art gallery consultant joked: "I am the youngest of four and if you didn't eat quickly, you didn't eat.
"We all love our food and guzzle it down. All my family are very food-orientated.
“My mum is a proper Scouse mum who just wants to feed you. She will make up a bag of food for you to take home, even if you’re a stranger.
“We know how to make good, proper food… it will give you a heart attack, but it is proper food."
According to Lindsay, during her relationship with cheating Paddy she did not eat properly, but after the show she turned to her mother's food for comfort.
She said: "Our relationship wasn’t as rosy as perhaps my social media made out and I think I did a lot of comfort eating.
"I found out he was cheating on me and he had left me in a lot of debt. So I went on Judge Rinder.
"You would have thought I was the only person in the world to have ever been cheated on.
"In my 30s, in the loft at my mum and dad's, struggling with money, trying to make minimum payments on my debt. Food was a comfort."
Lindsay recalled how she would eat whole packs of biscuits with a single mug of tea.
Her parents became concerned about her weight gain saying she did not look healthy or like herself.
She said: "I got quite upset about it and my mum shouted at him for upsetting me.
"He told me he was worried about me, that I didn’t look healthy, I didn’t look myself.
"And he knew more than most how depressed I had been. He would often have to drag me out of bed to get up for work."
Before Lindsay's diet consisted of a bread-based meal for breakfast and lunch, homemade deep-fried chips with steak for dinner and a packet of biscuits with a cup of tea as a snack.
Now, Lindsay's diet is much healthier including a protein bar, yoghurt or fruit for breakfast, protein and salad for lunch, chicken or fish with vegetables or a burger in a lettuce bun and pineapple or a protein bar to snack on.
