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Ola Jordan has dropped from a size 14 to an eight in just four months as she and husband James show off their stunning weight loss – after shedding a combined 6.5 stone.
The ex-Strictly professional, 40, admits she yearned for her former dancer body and doubted if she would ever have a flat stomach again after becoming a mum for the first time in 2020 and gaining weight during the pandemic.
Her self-esteem was so low that Ola would refuse to leave the house and she felt a shadow of her former self compared to the confident pro who would compete on Strictly every Saturday night in glitzy, revealing dresses.
After posting a photo on Instagram and admitting she was ‘horrified’ and ‘disappointed’ by her figure, Ola and James, 44, vowed to overhaul their lives – and now they’re feeling better than ever.
Transformation: Ola Jordan has dropped from a size 14 to an eight in just four months as she and husband James show off their stunning weight loss – after losing a combined 6.5 stone
Out with the old: The ex-Strictly professional admits she yearned for her former dancer body and doubted if she would ever have a flat stomach again after becoming a mum in 2022
Ola told MailOnline: ‘I feel like I’ve lost a whole person.
‘A size 14 was my biggest. I’m quite short as well so a size 14 for some people isn’t big and that’s the problem with weight and sizes because some people say a 14 isn’t big. But being 5ft3 and a size 14 is big.
‘I’m a size eight now. I missed my old self. There’s nothing wrong with admitting it.
‘People now preach body positivity, and they accept it, but I really missed my old self and that’s not just my body it was with dance and everything else. Health is important for me, and I want to stay healthy for as long as I can.’
James added: ‘We have lost six-and-a-half stone between the two of us. This has been since the summer after the photo we took on July 20.’
‘I missed my old self’: Her self-esteem was so low that Ola would refuse to leave the house and she felt a shadow of her former self compared to the confident pro who would compete on Strictly
Ola’s motivation to drop three dress sizes came after she realised her physical appearance had changed so much that she no longer recognised herself.
The photo of her and James taken in July shows the couple, who share daughter Ella, two, in their swimwear following years of unhealthy eating.
Former Dancing On Ice star James says he was drinking up to three calorific hazelnut lattes per day while he failed to move his body, admitting the sad loss of his father caused him to suffer from brain fog and low moods.
Ola felt the same way – ducking out of red-carpet appearances and hiding at home until she was ready to face the potential trolling and backlash by posting the bikini picture and finally taking accountability.
She said: ‘For me it was my stomach. I used to think, is that it? Is that my stomach after pregnancy? Am I never going to lose that? But I have. I’ve got a nice flat tummy now. My face changed a lot. When I look back at pictures, I’m like I was so swollen.
‘People said after pregnancy I would just snap back because I’m a professional dancer but I’m the same as everyone else. I sat there in my baggy clothes during lockdown stuffing my face and I didn’t dance. My body was not going to snap back.
‘I didn’t want to get dressed up and nothing fitted me anymore. That was my breaking point.
‘I was hiding. I was in denial. People were saying there are a lot of mums that look like that you’re fine but if you’re not happy, you’re not happy.’
James continued: ‘I hated my gut. I saw a few pictures of me – whether it be playing golf and out with friends and my gut actually hung over the top.
‘I couldn’t wear a certain belt because every time I wore it – I’m quite hairy and I have a hairy chest and my belly hair used to hang over the top of my belt and get caught.
‘We looked like every bee in a hive had stung us. We were honestly both so fat!’
‘Nothing fitted me anymore’: Ola’s motivation to drop three dress sizes came after she realised her physical appearance had changed so much that she no longer recognised herself
‘I’m the same as everyone else’: The dancer says she grew frustrated over the public misconception that she would ‘snap back’ after having a baby because she’s a pro dancer
Ola, who shows off her figure wearing a white bikini in new photos for MailOnline, admits her sex life with husband James has improved since they slimmed down because she’s finally feeling better in her own skin.
She said: ‘It’s amazing. I am much more confident. I didn’t want to be seen before if I’m really honest with you.
‘It’s confidence and even with dressing now I’ll wear nicer clothes. I feel sexy again. I don’t wear my big knickers anymore and I’m wearing my sexier stuff.
‘I have worked hard and I’m really pleased with myself. I’m really happy.’
And James is thrilled with Ola’s transformation too, adding: ‘It’s lovely to see her happy again because everything has been for Ella and she’s now done something for herself.
‘She can now get into all her clothes… it’s just good to see her happier again.’
Family: Ola and James, who admits to losing motivation and suffering from ‘brain fog’ after the passing of his father, welcomed daughter Ella in 2020
What’s their secret?: The former Strictly couple have launched fitness website Dance Shred, which is a 12-week program that combines learning to dance with functional training
Their fans will be dying to know how the Strictly couple went from hating their physical appearance to posing in a joint photoshoot looking as healthy as they did in the height of their professional dance careers.
They say the answer is their new 12-week fitness program DanceShred.co.uk, which combines Latin American and Ballroom dancing with functional training for a high-intensity workout.
Ola says their weight loss journey begun by dancing with daughter Ella in the kitchen and cutting out unhealthy foods, with the couple later adding the likes of burpees, squats, and mountain climbers to help shred those unwanted pounds.
She explained: ‘We started to make changes in our diet – we stopped snacking and eating takeaways. We were sometimes having takeaways 2-3 times a week. We still treat ourselves but we’re mindful and we don’t do it all the time. I lost over a stone in the first few weeks.’
James continued: ‘We started dancing in the kitchen and because I’ve been a gym nut for so many years and I used to train Ola and I’m a qualified PT, I started putting functional exercises within the dancing and creating these routines.
‘We would do the Cha Cha and then put in functional exercises and started doing that with the Jive and to music. You can do the Cha Cha into burpees and back into Cha Cha – back into something for abs and we were linking and changing it.
‘We were burning loads of calories through the dance and doing functional moves like squats and lunges and press ups, you’re building muscle as well doing strength training.’
‘We got ourselves in a pickle’: James insists his and Ola’s fitness transformation wasn’t to make money and says they genuinely found themselves in a rut for five years
As someone who’s become known for his bold opinions, James is aware that not everyone will buy into his and Ola’s story – and admits he would be the first to question their intentions.
There are cynics who will see them as just another pair of celebrities trying to make money out of the ever growing fitness and wellness industry, who purposely put on weight just to lose it again, while promoting their new platform.
But James says those people are wrong and insists his fitness transformation is completely genuine.
He said: ‘People have been saying ‘they clearly purposefully put on weight so they could do a fitness DVD’… yeah, we wanted to be fat and obese for five years, we thought five years in advance just so we could launch a fitness platform.
‘No, we got ourselves in a bit of a pickle. We did something about it and people have asked how have we done it and we are going to share it because we know it works.
‘If we did it in a really short period of time then I’d think the same because I’m quite judgmental and it’s a part of human nature because so many celebrities bring out these DVDs and things and I get it and people are going to judge no matter what I say.
‘I can assure you hand on my heart there’s no way I would want to be fat for five years to do a fitness platform.’
Adjustments: The couple say alongside their new fitness regime they also stopped eating unhealthily after admitting to ordering 2-3 takeaways a week at their biggest
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