ROMSEY Slimming World members are set to celebrate half a century of success.

As Slimming World entered its 50th year, a group of Slimming World consultants from Romsey marked the milestone by meeting TV personality and presenter Rylan Clark-Neal.

The X Factor star co-hosted the annual Slimming World Awards with the organisation’s founder and chair Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE.

Ms Miles-Bramwell opened her first Slimming World group in 1969 and today the organisation supports nearly one million slimmers.

The team, who runs Slimming World groups in Romsey, has now celebrated the achievement and said they were delighted to get a chance to cuddle up to Rylan.

Consultant Karen Wyatt said meeting the TV host was a wonderful way to round off a great year for the Slimming World.

She added: “I couldn’t be more proud of our members. Watching people change before my eyes and start being able to do things that they didn’t think were possible before losing weight absolutely amazes me. Every week I feel privileged to play even a small part in people’s achievements and to celebrate with them, so I felt especially honoured to represent our Slimming World groups at the Slimming World Awards. Rylan was blown away by the difference Slimming World makes to people’s lives too.”

Rylan said he was thrilled to be invited to host the awards ceremony, which was held at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre.

He said: “I met so many people who had lost incredible amounts of weight and made a huge difference to their lives. The one thing they all had in common was how much support they received from their Slimming World family.

“Every one of them spoke passionately about how they couldn’t have made those changes to eat more healthily and become more active without the support of their consultant and group every week. It’s clear that the people who run the groups each week are worth their weight in gold.”