Shayne Ward's fitness journey© BBC

Shayne Ward's 3-stone weight loss and total transformation - photos

The X Factor singer is appearing on this year's Strictly Come Dancing  

Senior Features Writer
October 5, 2024

Shayne Ward has kicked off his Strictly Come Dancing journey on a high.

Last week, the former X Factor winner and soap actor, who is paired with Nancy Xu, impressed the judges with his Tango and successfully avoided the first dance-off of the series.

The 39-year-old has been open about his love of being active and so is no doubt thrilled about being in a studio dancing for hours on end each day.

Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu impressed with their © Guy Levy
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu impressed with their Tango

Shayne also spoke about his weight loss journey and impressive venture into fitness which saw him lose more than three stone.

Shayne Ward's weight loss

In 2020, the former Coronation Street actor appeared on an episode of Lorraine in which he revealed that he and his fiancée, Sophie Austin, a fellow actress with whom he shares two children, Willow May, eight, and son, Reign, two, had managed to shed six stone between them.

Shayne explained that he and Sophie had taken on gruelling workouts and cleaned up their diet by cooking from scratch in a bid to change their lifestyle and reach their fitness goals.

"Sophie is doing it with me. She cooks fresh food every single day, I've lost over three and a half, she's lost three stone," he said at the time.

Surprised by his admission, host Lorraine Kelly gasped: "And look at you now though. I tell you what, you still look pretty good to me in that [before picture]. You look alright." 

The singer then explained: "A lot of it is common sense and food. It's very easy to fall into the trap."

Shayne had also explained that he was keen to make a change after not feeling himself. He said on social media in 2019: "I'm happy to not be in that place I was 21 weeks ago. 

© Ray Burmiston
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu on Strictly

"I was sluggish, I was stressed and I didn't really want to do anything."

He added: "I was trying to balance everything on my shoulders in my personal and professional life. I didn't enjoy 'me'."

© Instagram
Shayne and Nancy training in the studio

More recently, Shayne shared a gym selfie showing he's kept his love of fitness and dedication to training. He wrote on Instagram in March: "The secret of making progress is to get started!

"I'm really enjoying my training journey. Having the confidence to try out different techniques and new training equipment. Let's see how far I can go."

Shayne Ward's family life

The former X Factor winner has been engaged to Sophie since December 2017, and the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Willow, at the end of 2016.

There is no doubt that Shayne is a doting family man, and he opened up about his happy family life during an appearance on This Morning in June 2017. 

© Instagram
Shayne and his fiance Sophie

He said: "I just love her so much. I was always meant to be a dad, with Sophie, and we've created Willow."

In 2022, Shayne and Sophie welcomed their little boy, Reign, and he's a total mini-me version of his dad!

Announcing his son's arrival on social media, Shayne said: "And then there were Four! 11/06/22 we had a HUGE surprise! 

"Not a baby girl we were expecting but a beautiful baby Boy. We are so overjoyed and blessed that sir baby Ward has arrived." 

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