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Paul Merson has revealed his incredible weight loss since starting Strictly Come Dancing last month.
The former England star, 56, confessed he is at his lightest weight in 20 years after almost losing second place after four weeks performing on the show.
talking to the sunThe sports star joked that he needs to stay in the competition since he hasn’t reached his ideal weight yet.
He explained: “My goal was to be well below 14th place before I came out of Strictly, and right now I’m in 14th place – I haven’t been this light in 20 years.”
Paul and his partner Karen Hauer were in the dance against Toyah Wilcox and Neil Jones during the third week of the competition.
Strictly’s Paul Merson has revealed his incredible weight loss and admitted it is the lightest he has been in 20 years.
He explained: “My goal was to be well below 14th place before I came out of Strictly, and right now I’m in 14th place – I haven’t been this light in 20 years.”
However, all four judges opted to save Paul and the star returned to prove himself the following week after unexpectedly wowing the judges with his Quickstep to I Won’t Dance by Fred Astaire.
Speaking of her dance experience, she added: “So when I was at the dance I thought, ‘I’m 14 and 3lbs, I have to stay!'” So it’s not about staying to win, I just want to lose more weight.
“If I work hard this week I should get to 14th place.”
Paul found himself in third place in the standings last week and admitted that with Toyah out he will have to fight for his place in the competition as the level this year is very high.
The star previously revealed that her other reason for doing Strictly was to inspire those who have suffered from addiction.
Despite his success on the field with Arsenal, at the height of his career in the 1990s, Paul was battling demons and his drink, drug and gambling addictions spiraled out of control.
He confessed that When he was in the grip of his addiction, the idea of competing on Strictly didn’t even seem like a possibility as he could only focus on drink, drugs and gambling.
The athlete’s addiction was so cruel that he managed to waste a staggering £7 million.
Despite being a successful sports star, Paul hasn’t always kept fit since leaving the field.
Paul and his partner Karen Hauer were in the dance against Toyah Wilcox and Neil Jones during the third week of the competition.
Speaking of her dance experience, she added: “So when I was at the dance I thought, ‘I’m 14 and 3lbs, I have to stay!'” So it’s not about staying to win, I just want to lose more weight.
talking to The daily mirrorsaid, “Being a recovering addict and alcoholic… showing people who watch this show that they have addictions, that you can go out and do something like this… it’s very important.”
‘Because addiction takes you away from everything. That’s all it does. He wants you alone.
Paul now hopes his story of addiction and recovery can inspire others as he prepares to hit the dance floor.
He added: “Now I’m in front of millions of people doing something I’m not very good at.” I used to think, “I can’t do things like that,” but now I have a chance to try.