The full interview is in the new issue of Closer magazine, on sale now
She may be fast approaching her 53rd birthday, but Loose Women presenter Denise Welch is feeling more confident with her figure than ever before.
After months of training for Dancing On Ice before being voted off two weeks ago, the mother-of-two has dropped two dresses, losing nearly two stone in weight.
Showing off the results in a new bikini photoshoot, the actress admits she is in the best shape of her life.
What a transformation: Denise Welch shows off her size 8-10 figure (left) after losing weight from her original size 12-14 figure (pictured right late last year)
She tells Closer magazine: 'I loved doing this shoot. I felt so relaxed - helped by a cheeky glass of Echo Falls (wine), of course.
'I’ve lost the weight and I’m very confident. But I can’t help wondering… why wasn’t I asked to do a bikini shoot in my 20s?! It’s probably because my body looks better now than it did then.'
Through a combination of working out both on and off the ice, the 52-year-old has gone from a size 12-14 to 8-10, with her weight dropping from 10st 9lb to 8st 10lb.
She admits: 'I haven’t gone for the size 8s yet. I’m working my way to it. I like wearing size 10 because I prefer things to be a bit baggy. It reminds me of how much weight I’ve lost.'
But Welch is reluctant to trade in her old clothes for a new wardrobe, because she doesn't know if she can maintain her slimmer figure.
She said: 'I keep thinking, "What if I put all the weight back on and can’t fit into anything?" I do worry about it, especially now that the show’s finished and I can get back to my normal life again.'
Although Welch was voted off the show in Week 7, she and partner Matt Evers will return to the rink again when she joins the Dancing On Ice live tour.
But once the skating stops, Welch is sure she will end up putting on some weight because of her actor husband Tim Healy's calorific cooking.
She explained: 'I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stay slim around Tim - he’s a bit of a feeder! I went home the other day and he’d made a corned beef and onion pie, and a blueberry pie.
'He keeps cooking for me because he’s a bit of an ‘a**e man’ - he liked me with a big bum. I don’t think he’s used to me being smaller.'
This week’s Closer is on sale now.
Fun way to lose weight: Welch and her Dancing On Ice partner Matt Evers