'I love my new body' says Coleen Nolan as she slips on a size 10 bikini for the first time ever

The 42-year-old halved her dress size, dropping from a size 20 to a size 10, and has stripped down to just skimpy two-piece number for a magazine shoot in celebration.

She says: "The last time I wore a bikini I was about two years old. I was slightly nervous about trying this one on at first but when I looked in the mirror, I thought: 'Not bad!'"

Colleen once tipped the scales at 13st 3lbs but now weighs in at 9st 2lbs, and says she no longer dreads the onset of summer weather and the skimpy outfits that go with it.

Scroll down for more...

The mother of three told Closer magazine: "I've hated the summer for as long as I can remember but this year I'm looking forward to it."

"It goes to show it's never too late. No matter how many times you've failed, keep trying."

After a lifetime of yo-yo dieting she began following the Rosemary Conley diet and started exercising three times a week, which she continues to keep up.

"Before I got in shape I used to put on a front.

Scroll down for more...

"For years I made jokes about being fat before anyone else could but, deep down, I felt ashamed of myself. It's supposed to be about what's on the inside but the way you look outside is also important.

"At 42, I felt this was my last chance to get in shape. Thankfully, Rosemary Conley's plan is really easy to follow. It doesn't have to make you boring either.

"You can go out to dinner, just don't have all three courses, or drink to excess.

"If I want to eat a snack I stop and think: 'Is that really worth what I'm going to feel like after I've eaten it?'

"So often I decide not to have it after all. But if I do, it's the exercise that's important. If I don't work out three times a week, it'll go south again so I need to keep it up."

The youngest Nolan sister was married to first husband and former EastEnders actor Shane Ritchie. The pair married in 1990 but split after nine years.

He admitted last week that he used to make jibes about her appearance.

He said: "Coleen had done nothing wrong. For a while I used to tell her she'd put on weight, that she didn't understand me.

"The usual rubbish. But it wasn't true. That's just the knee-jerk defence of blokes who have affairs."

The couple have two sons, Jake and Shane, aged 15 and 19, but the marriage ended after Ritchie's numerous affairs.

Ritchie is now remarried to actress Christie Goddard, 29, while Miss Nolan is married to musician Ray Fensome, 49.

She was spurred on to lose weight by her wedding which took place last November.

She says: "Now I've got everything I could ever wish for. A lovely husband, three gorgeous kids and I'm in control of my body!"