Kettering 'Around the World in 80 Weighs' TV star says show ‘changed her life’ helping her lose four stone

A Northamptonshire woman who volunteered to travel the globe on a journey of discovery in order to lose weight says the experience changed her life.

One of six contestants on the Channel 4 show ‘Around The World In 80 Weighs’, Sue, who lives near Kettering, signed up for the travelogue with a difference.

Stopping in Japan, Tonga, India, and America, Sue and the group were shown the effects of the obesity crisis in different countries.

Now four stone lighter and slimmed from a size 22 to 16, she says has more energy and is a ‘changed woman’ following her six-week adventure.

Sue, 58, said: “It’s literally changed my life. I feel 20 years younger. It’s cured my menopausal symptoms and I have the energy of a teenager.”

In the first episode, Sue and her new pals lived together in a traditional Japanese house. They immersed themselves in the culture joining in with a Rajio Taiso exercise class, seeing how firms in Japan help their employees tackle obesity and made an uncomfortable trip to a market where locals stared at the group.

She said: “I asked them (her hosts) what they thought when they first saw us and they said we ‘didn’t align with the harmony of their culture’. It was a real shocker. I was mortified.”

It was over Christmas 2022 following a family games night that Sue’s daughter investigated applying for TV quiz shows, but it was another ‘take part’ programme that caught her eye.

Sue said: “She said mum this show would be perfect for you. You always said you needed someone to help you. I always said someone should stick me on a desert island and make me diet.”

Self-confessed ‘cheesaholic’ and lover of Jaffa Cakes, Sue has now ‘reprogrammed’ her brain and regularly tucks into fermented vegetables including sauerkraut and Kimchi – a Korean dish.

Fast forward to Christmas 2023, Sue had another encounter at a market, this time in Oundle, with a different reaction from a friend she bumped into whilst browsing.

She said: “I was at the Christmas market in Oundle and they said ‘have you had a facelift? You look incredible.’

"I went to my doctor’s surgery and they said ‘you look incredible’. I go boxing in Corby twice a week and I wear my coach out. I’m buying a whole new wardrobe. I’m going hell for leather.”

Sue says she’s taken everything she’s learnt on her travels and feels like she’s been given ‘the secret’.

She said: “It’s altered my mindset. Fermented food has reprogrammed my gut and my brain. I really want to help menopausal women. I’ve been given the secret. Eat fish. Eat broccoli. Drink tap water. Don’t eat sugar and ultra-processed food – it’s all the chemicals. If you can’t pronounce it on the label, don’t put it in your mouth. Cook from scratch and batch cook.”

The oldest member of the group, Sue says she has made friends for life with the other contestants, describing them as being like a ‘bonded family’.

She added: “There’s never been a television programme like this – you’ll laugh, you’ll cry.”

Around the World in 80 Weighs airs every Tuesday on Channel 4 at 9pm.