Ruth Jones, the star and creator of Gavin And Stacey, has surprised fans with her dramatic weight loss after shedding four-and-a-half stone.

The former Fat Friends star, 45, said it had taken 22 months of calorie-counting to drop to a size 16.

She told the Daily Mail: "I came back from holiday a couple of years ago - January 2010, and we all overdo it on holiday, don't we?

"Something just clicked, I felt this is now or never, I wanted to make a positive change for me, and I haven't looked back."

Ruth, who starred as Nessa in the BBC hit series Gavin And Stacey, chose to diet safely using a calorie counting technique.

"I thought, right, they say 2,000 calories a day is the norm for a woman. I'll aim for 1,200-1,500 a day and see how it goes," she says.

"Some days are better than others. But if you think about it, there's calorie values on the back of everything - supermarket sandwiches, chocolate bars - everything." 

Ruth showed off her new shape at the recent West End preview of One Man, Two Guvnors, starring her friend James Corden - who has also been trying to lose weight.

Photo: © Getty