Film and TV

Paddy Cunningham and Wil Graham will be on The Biggest Loser tonight
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Battle of the bulge for flabby flatmates

By Natalie Slater
January 10, 2011

A pair of flabby flatmates from Reading are hoping to go from TV dinners to TV slimmers as they fight the fat on a TV weight loss show tonight.

Paddy Cunningham, 28, and Wil Graham, 29, live in Driftway Close in Lower Earley, and decided to apply to participate in The Biggest Loser after watching the US and Australian versions of the show.

Mr Cunningham, who works as a learning and development specialist at a bank and is also the radio voiceover for Ikea stores, and Mr Graham, a team leader for an online bank, will be stripping down to their underwear to step onto the scales for the first weigh-in being shown on ITV on Monday, January 10.

The duo are competing for a £25,000 prize but the friends say that entering the show was more about changing their lifestyles than bagging the money.

“Weight has always been an issue with me, I was always the fat kid and the overweight teenager and Wil and I both decided we wanted to lose weight when we saw the show was looking for contestants,” said Mr Cunningham who was 22 stone and a pound when he started the programme.

He added: “We haven’t decided yet where we’re going to watch the show but we are both a bit nervous about watching it back, especially the first weigh-in.

“Our bodies at our biggest will be on show for everyone, even our families haven’t seen that, but it’s the outcome that matters and our lives have changed dramatically since the show.”

Mr Graham, who was 24 stone and seven pounds when he started the show, said: “I came on The Biggest Loser because I felt like my life’s been on pause for so long, and I’m really tired of being this size.

“I’ve tried everything and feel like this is the last chance for me to get to the size I need to be so that I can start to live my life and stop being disgusted and ashamed of the person I see when I look in the mirror.”

Rich Jones is a personal trainer at Pulse 8 gym in Sindlesham and has been working with the pair since they left boot camp. He said: “They are both very determined and have done really well. I’m working with them up to the final and they are very focused on losing the weight.

“Shows like these are a great way to motivate people who otherwise might think they can’t change. They encourage a healthy lifestyle to improve fitness and happiness.”

Show presenter Davina McCall said: “Wil and Paddy were an amazing couple. Wil just physically changed so much over the time and he put so much in, it was as if Wil had this amazing moment two or three weeks in where he thought, ‘This is it, I’m going to do this for the rest of my life. I’m not just doing this for the film, I’m not just doing this for a few months and then I’m going back to my old life, I want to change.’

“And Paddy, his flatmate, I love him, he’s such a sweet guy, but he had a total wobble in the second or third week and Angie Dowds, our trainer, had to have a big old chat with him. None of us know what was said, but whatever was said, it changed him and he came back bigger and stronger.”

The show also features twins Ayanda and Zandela Soares, formerly from Reading but now living in London.

Tune in tonight at 9pm.

natalieslater@trinitysouth.co.uk

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"WELL DONE TO YOU BOTH"

Dreamer, Reading
01/03/2011 at 13:01

So Wil lost an astonishing 8st 7lb and won the £25,000 prize and Paddy won the holiday. Both look like different people. Well done

Sloth, Reading
28/02/2011 at 22:03

Breaking Bad yes but Fringe? Really? You're criticising The Biggest Loser and recommending Fringe in the same sentence?

Anonymous Coward
11/01/2011 at 14:06

Well done Paddy. You both did well yesterday! Keep it up!

Marcella, Reading
11/01/2011 at 12:31

I always enjoy watching The Biggest Loser for some bizarre reason! L

Nothing bizarre about it, you can obviously relate quite easily. However one would point you in the RIGHT direction if you must face box; Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, Fringe.

S C A R
11/01/2011 at 10:41

not so much FLAT mates but FAT mates .. hi hum .... go to it guys ... good luck to you both

The Racing Snake
10/01/2011 at 22:51

It's easy to point the finger and make fun, I wish them all the best

kt86, reading
10/01/2011 at 16:31

Hey peeps, thanks for the positive comments - really appreciate them.

Hope you all enjoy the show.

Thanks

Paddy Biggest Loser Contestant

Paddy Cunningham, Reading
10/01/2011 at 15:06

Good grief! They must have been scoffing non-stop to get to that size. However, good on them for trying to change. Looks like a lot of censorship has been going on here.

Marcella, Reading
10/01/2011 at 14:23

I always enjoy watching The Biggest Loser for some bizarre reason!

L
10/01/2011 at 13:41

I predict they will be switching on the Xmas lights this year in Reading!

wonderwoman, Reading
10/01/2011 at 13:16

Good luck to you,especially Ayanda and Zandela, its nice to see people who are willing to make the effort and lose weight the hard way!!

kt86, reading
10/01/2011 at 13:03

Their chances of success would be doubled if they curbed banker bonuses. Ho ho!

Spiddly
10/01/2011 at 12:54

Now I know why ASDA never has any pies in stock.

One who knows, Chaversham
10/01/2011 at 12:22

Claire, neither is trash television or the 'people' that watch/derive pleasure from viewing it. But hey let us celebrate the terminally flawed and the slow decline of intelligence whilst we're at it...