Pauline Quirke reveals health threats that prompted her to lose weight

Actress Pauline Quirke has spoken of the three wake-up calls she received about her health as a result of being overweight, something that spurred her on to slimming.

The 52-year-old told the Daily Mirror that she was mortified when she went on a family holiday, only to find she could not fit the aeroplane seatbelt around her middle.

“I had to ask the attendant for an extension. I felt like c**p, to have to do that in front of my husband and kids,” she recalled.

Quirke was then told by her doctor that she would need a hip replacement and also broke her arm in a fall, something she attributed to landing heavily on the bone.

The Emmerdale star consequently embarked upon a slimming regime of meal replacement shakes and has lost a huge eight stone since January 2011.

She commented: “For me, it was my health and that’s why I was able to finally do it. I had to.”

Quirke first unveiled her weight loss in July, telling Woman magazine she had been shocked when she discovered she weighed 19st 6lbs.

Has her story inspired you to start a healthier lifestyle?