Our eight Fit Idol finalists have now been picked and the excitement is building as we prepare to start this year’s competition.

The contestants, all self-proclaimed couch potatoes, are about to embark on an intensive two months of exercise, the likes of which they have never experienced before.

They will be given free passes to their nearest Active Life gym and every Wednesday evening for the next eight weeks their fitness levels will be monitored.

Readers can follow their progress on this website and each week in the Kentish Gazette.

Our Fit Idol winner will be the contestant who, at the end of eight weeks, has shown the most improvement.

They will receive a year’s five-star gym membership, worth £420, at Active Life sports centres at Kingsmead, Whitstable Swimming Pool and The Pier, Herne Bay.

They will also win six months’ personal training and a meal and a night for two at the Hotel Continental in Whitstable.

The runner-up will receive six months’ Active Life gym membership and all eight contestants will be treated to a celebration meal at the end of the competition.

To find out who our eight contestants are, see the Kentish Gazette, out on Thursday.