A husband and wife worked together to lose nearly nine stone between them.

John and Melanie Butcher from Allington, in Maidstone, managed to reach the national finals of Slimming World’s Couple of the Year competition after shedding a combined 8st 10.5lbs.

They started their weight loss mission by signing up to the Larkfield branch after John was diagnosed with cancer.

The 55-year-old dad-of-two underwent surgery to have his kidney removed in February 2016 which left him bed-bound for 11 months.

He said: “Throughout my recovery I was unable to walk and so I put on a lot of weight.

“I knew that my weight was an issue but I didn’t really know where to start when it came to losing it.

“The lightbulb moment came when Melanie told me she was unhappy with hers too.

“We knew that we needed the encouragement of a group each week and that we’d support each other along the way too.”

Throughout his time at Slimming World, Mr Butcher, managed to lose 4st 8lbs, down from 18st 6.5lbs while Mrs Butcher, 51, slimmed down from 12st 5lb to 8st 6.5lbs.

The couple decided they would both set themselves a goal they would like to achieve to help them stay motivated.

Mr Butcher aimed to fly in a Spitfire and has got a chance to in August. Mrs Butcher set herself the task of climbing Mount Snowdon and managed to do it last year.

The pair made it the final six of the Couple of the Year competition but missed out on winning first place.

The winner is due to be announced at the end of the month.

Mrs Butcher added “We are over the moon to have reached the finals, never in a million years did we think it was even a possibility when we first walked through the doors of our group.”

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