X Factor finalist Mary Byrne looks unrecognisable after shedding 4.5 stone! The musician, who competed on the show in 2010, opened up about her dramatic transformation during an appearance on Loose Women on Friday, saying she still has "a long way to go".
Speaking about her weight loss, Mary said: "There's four and a half stone off me so far. I've got a long way to go. For years I used to say: 'I'm happy with what I am,' nobody should be shamed into feeling any different. But the problem starts when you get older, your health starts to fail."
Mary Byrne has lost 4.5 stone since X Factor
The 58-year-old said losing weight has also had a huge impact on her health. "I need a new knee. I have chronic arthritis, four and a half stone has made a huge difference to my body. So much has changed since I lost the weight. For years I'd been trying, while I was on X Factor I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. I had to do something, so a company in Ireland contacted me," she said.
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"One month giving me diets and exercise and swimming, and since that – I stuck to the diet, I stuck to the exercise and I stuck to the walking. It was the best platform I had ever had, I was 51 at that time. Looking at me there, I don't look like me and I look unhealthy," Mary concluded.
The Irish singer has also changed her hairstyle
The Irish singer has not only lost weight, she has also undergone a hair makeover, lightening her previously long dark locks to a lighter blonde bob. She also revealed she is still in touch with her X Factor mentor Louis Walsh, and occasionally hears from Harry Styles, who was a fellow runner-up with One Direction in the year she competed.
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"I'm still in touch with Wagner, he is a good guy. I'm still contact with Harry now, I don't get an awful lot now because they're very big," Mary said. "I was in the house with the guys and they said: 'We're going to go now,' and I said: 'No, big things are coming for you!' They worked very hard, they used to be up at 6am. They may not have been the best singers in the world at the time, but they are now."