Bedford slimmers meet TV's Rylan in advance of Slimming World's 50th anniversary year

Rylan, who shot to fame after appearing on TV’s X-Factor, co-hosted the annual Slimming World Awards which marked the organisation’s 50th anniversary.

Margaret Miles-Bramwell opened her first Slimming World group in 1969 and over the last 50 years the business has grown to become the UK’s leading group-based weight-management organisation.

The team, which run Slimming World groups across Bedford, were delighted to get a chance to meet Rylan.

Spokesman Liz Fear said meeting the TV host was a wonderful way to round off a great year for Slimming World, as well as a brilliant way to lead into 2019 – Slimming World’s Golden Year.

She said: “I couldn’t be more proud of our members. Not only have they lost fantastic amounts of weight throughout 2018 – with many of them hitting their target – they’ve also improved their health, 
boosted their confidence and are heading into 2019 with new healthy habits that will stay with them for life.

“Watching people change before my eyes and start being able to do things that they didn’t think were possible before losing weight absolutely amazes me.

Rylan, who has appeared on This Morning and Channel 5’s Big Brother’s Little Brother, said: “I met so many people who had lost incredible amounts of weight and made a huge difference to their lives.

“While the stories I heard were obviously very personal, the one thing they all had in common was how much support they received from their ‘Slimming World family’ and how so many of them were achieving their dreams.

“Every one of them spoke passionately about how they couldn’t have made those changes to eat more healthily and become more active without the support of their consultant and group every week. It’s clear that the people who run the groups each week are worth their weight in gold.”

Donna Phillips added: “2018 has been a brilliant year for Slimming World. We’ve launched our Slim for Life plan to give even more support to our target members and won awards for both our magazine and food range.

“We’re hoping our Golden Year will be even more successful and we have a string of exciting activities planned to celebrate our 50th birthday including the launch of new websites and apps.”