A super slimmer from Littleport was congratulated on losing a 9st 5lbs by Emmerdale actor Anthony Quinlan after reaching the final stages of a national slimming competition.

Emma Hunter’s inspirational weight loss earned her a place as one of just 10 women – out of all of Slimming World’s 800,000 members – to make the finals of Slimming World’s Woman of the Year 2015 competition.

And Anthony, who made his name on TV as Gilly Roach in Hollyoaks and is currently playing Pete Barton in ITV1 soap Emmerdale, visited the organisation’s head office in Derbyshire to help Emma and the other slimmers celebrate.

33-year-old Emma joined the Littleport Slimming World group in October 2012 and her transformation has seen her go from 22 stone 4.5lbs to 12 stone 13.5lbs.

Her drastic weight loss inspired members of the group to vote her as their representative in the annual Woman of the Year competition and after winning the regional heat and triumphing at the national semi-finals, she was in the running to win the overall title of ‘Slimming World Woman of the Year 2015’ and a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Dubai.

Along with the other nine finalists, Emma was invited to the annual Slimming World Awards but unfortunately missed out on the top prize*.

She says: “Many of the changes I’ve made to the way I cook and eat have been small ones, like swapping white bread for wholemeal and using low calorie spray instead of oil or butter in my cooking, but they’ve made a big difference to my weight. With Slimming World I still enjoy all my favourite dishes like ‘fakeaway’ spicy chow mein too.

Nowadays, instead of snacking on biscuits or crisps, I’m more likely to have a piece of fruit or a fat-free yogurt. Although nothing’s banned at Slimming World so I still enjoy a glass of wine and some chocolate, too.”

The best thing is great support though and I don’t think I’d have been able to get to where I am today without my Consultant Sharon and the rest of the Littleport group.”

Sharon Heaps, who runs the Littleport Slimming World group which Emma currently attends, is very proud of her: “Emma hasn’t only changed how she looks, she’s a different woman on the inside too. She’s blossomed into a happy, confident person and it’s been a pleasure to share in her journey. She’s already such an inspiration to so many of us in the Littleport group and I’m sure she’ll inspire even more people now.”

Soapstar Anthony Quinlan was amazed by Emma’s weight loss. He said: “It was a real pleasure to meet Emma and hear about her inspirational weight loss – she looks so happy and healthy now.”

Anyone interested in joining the Littleport Slimming World group can call Sharon on 07760192638 for more information.