West End star becomes ambassador for weight loss organisation

West End star becomes ambassador for weight loss organisation

Press release from ‘All About Weight’

Darren Day – star of the West End stage and television – has been busy recently with a run in the television soap Hollyoaks, quickly followed by rave reviews in the touring production Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show.

Darren, who in his singleton years dominated the celebrity tabloid pages with a string of  “heartbreak” stories, has put his hellraiser days behind him and nowadays is a family man, married with two children and with a third baby on the way. But he confesses to one remaining secret vice.

“I have a sweet tooth!” he laughs “Having kids brings lots of joy to a house, but it also brings lots of sweets! After I gave up drinking, I suddenly developed a craving for sweet things, so I’m constantly trying to resist the call of the cakes!”

Darren hit the headlines two years ago when he piled on the pounds and appeared in the press looking far from the slim heartthrob of his younger years.

“My problem was that I settled down, and the more contented I got, the more I ate!” says the smiling star 

“After I met Steph (his wife of four years), and we had our beautiful daughter, Maddy, I felt so happy that I just settled into a quiet family life – and ate!  I took some time out to enjoy being with my baby daughter, but I’m not used to not working, so I found myself eating more.  I enjoy food, and my wife is a good cook, so I didn’t need much encouragement to eat. At my biggest, I weighed 15 stone which was more than three stone over my normal weight.”

Darren says he realised he needed to get in shape as he turned 40, when a newspaper described him as having gone from “hunk to chunk”.

“One day someone down the pub handed me a tabloid newspaper, telling me there was a photo of me in it. I’m always amused to see what stories the tabloids have made up about me, so I flicked through the pages, looking for the article. I remember seeing a photo of this chubby bloke and was about to flick on, looking for the photo of me, when I saw the headline “Dreambloat”. That huge, out of shape guy was me! I really couldn’t believe it – I looked awful.  But it was a wake-up call, because not only did I look bad, I had to admit that I felt bad too.”

“I weighed in over three stone heavier than my normal weight, and when I looked in the mirror I did not like what I saw. But I was so far gone, I didn’t really know what to do about it” he admits.

But Darren took advice from professionals, and set about losing weight through exercise and eating better.

“It was hard at first, because I had got into some terrible eating habits. Bread with everything, takeaways late at night, pints of beer. Just too much of everything.” admits Darren.

“But I wanted to be the sort of Dad who could play with his kids, be active with them, not some couch-potato, so with some hard work and determination, I lost the weight. But as with everything I get interested in, I tend to do it to excess, so I probably then ended up at the opposite end of the scale - eating too little, working out too much, and obsessing about it!” recalls Darren. “I went from Fat Lad to Muscle Man in 3 months. I did a big photoshoot with OK! Magazine where I was pretty much ripped, but to be honest, I didn’t eat for a day before it and insisted on doing 50 press ups before every camera click!” he laughs.

“Maybe that’s stage you have to go through, to reach a point where you understand what’s reasonable and find a way of managing your weight that isn’t obsessive!” he reflects.

 When he was offered the role of villain Danny Houston in the teen soap Hollyoaks, Darren kept a careful eye on his diet.  “I knew I couldn’t compete with the 20-something kids they have on the show, but I did want to look good, to fly the flag for the 40 year old guy and to say “we may not be as young as you handsome kids, but we 40-somethings can still hack it when we make the effort.”  By the time he went on to join the cast of Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show earlier this year he was once again feeling pretty good in his jeans, thanks to a combination of exercise and low-carb eating.

 “I am always looking for ways to keep my weight in check, so when I was asked to be an ambassador for All About Weight, I took a good look at what they were offering, then I tried the meals, which I liked, and decided this was a concept I was happy to support” says Darren. “It seemed a straightforward approach - no calorie counting or any of that stuff, which I would never do – I mean, who cares how many calories are in a chip! No, this is just good, pre-prepared food and easy snacks, which is just what I need when I’m on tour or busy at home and trying to avoid takeaways!” says Darren. “You can also call up your  a consultant for a chat, which I think will be useful if I’m struggling or want some advice.”

“I honestly think there are a lot of blokes out there who hit 40, and suddenly the waistline expands, the energy depletes, and although you’d like to fit into that old wedding suit, or that old favourite pair of trousers, you just don’t know how to go about it.”

“I think it’s easier for women because it’s more acceptable for them to discuss their weight issues, to talk about being unhappy about their weight. Whereas that’s one conversation you would never hear down the pub among the lads.”

“I think its time a bloke stood up to say that you can fight back against weight gain. There are so many good things about getting older. Kicking the bad habits of youth and settling down with a wife and family has been a joy. But settling down doesn’t have to mean a beer belly and no energy to do anything but lift pints and watch telly. Just because you’ve put it on, doesn’t mean you can’t lose it. I’ve shown that its possible, and I really hope more blokes who are not happy with their weight, give it a go, because I can honestly say I feel so much better for having done it – there really is a way back from big.” 

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