IN 2018, a Worle man appeared on an ITV show after losing almost seven stone in an ‘incredible’ transformation.

Stefan Clarke featured on This Time Next Year, which saw people pledge to transform their lives in just 12 months.

Through a series of self-filmed videos marking his progress, the 25-year-old went from 24st to 17st 2lbs.

Speaking at the time, he said: “I was struggling with my weight and have always had an age to weight correlation – when I was aged 11 I weighed 11st, when I was 17 I weighed 17st and so on.

“I watched the first series and thought I might as well apply for the next one.

“Filming began in February last year, I went to the television studio and told the audience my plan and I started to make changes instantly.”

Stefan, who had ‘always struggled’ with his weight, lost three stone when he first attended Slimming World groups but put it back on again and was determined not to make the same mistakes this time.

He took up badminton and squash and entered another Slimming World group at St Mark’s Church, in St Mark’s Road, as well as starting long-distance walking and setting a goal of completing between 8-10,000 steps per day.

Stefan also made changes to his diet, eating lower calorie meals each day, and he also gave up alcohol.

Sylvia Rubery, weight loss consultant at Stefan’s Slimming World classes, said in 2018: “Stefan has changed drastically in the past 52 weeks and it is incredible to see.

“When he began attending classes, he was not very confident, but he was determined to turn his life around.

“He is a very popular member of the group.”

The experience gave Stefan a ‘new lease of life’ and said that meeting one of his television icons Davina McCall, who hosted the show, was a highlight.

He said: “She is such a nice person and was genuinely interested and invested in my story.

“I’ve grown in confidence so much and for the first time I can say I love myself.”