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'I lost 18st and
my husband when he ran off with my mum'

LOSING WEIGHT WAS ZOE CUMMINGS' TOUGHEST CHALLENGE - UNTIL HER MARRIAGE COLLAPSED IN SHOCKING CIRCUMSTANCES

Zoe, a full-time mum from Croydon, lost 18st after radical surgery, but her life became a roller-coaster ride when she was the victim of an appalling betrayal by those closest to her.

At 5ft 7in and weighing 29st Zoe was morbidly obese. With no confidence or self-respect, by the age of 20 Zoe had four children by two different fathers - Crystal, nine, Micky, eight, Lene, seven, and six-year-old Lily. Then, in 2001, Zoe met Wayne. She weighed 18st and Wayne was 21st but within two years later, she weighed 25st.

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She hated the way she looked and tried in vain to diet. In 2005, Zoe read up on gastric band surgery, which would shrink her stomach so she could no longer overeat and booked herself in for surgery in March 2006. Zoe lost 12st over the following six months but felt unloved and unsupported as Wayne continued to binge on junk.

Zoe suggested they spend time apart and took her children to stay with her sister, Kelly, who lived nearby. But when she didn't hear from Wayne for a couple of days she went back to the house where she was surprised to see her mother's car parked outside.

" I went back to Kelly's and phoned Wayne. Mum answered and said she and Wayne were together now," she says.

"Mum told me their relationship started after I left, but that didn't make it easier. The people I loved had betrayed me in the most disgraceful way."

Gradually, Zoe started to come to terms with the betrayal. "Wayne and Mum were the ones who'd helped me get so fat," says Zoe. "Without them in my life, I felt better."

In December 2006 she got together with a new man, Dale Cummings, 25, a carer, and since then she's lost another 5st. She now weighs just over 11st and is a size 14.

"I'll never forgive Mum and Wayne, but I try not to think about them now. I haven't spoken to them since that awful day. What's important is that I'm fit and healthy, and I have a man who loves me." In November 2007, Zoe married Dale. "This time I felt beautiful," she says.

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Photography: Lancton

Styling: Vicki Hillman

Hair & make-up: Candy Yeldham at Minx to find out more about weight-loss surgery visit the hospital group website, www.thehospitalgroup.org or freephone 0800 138 3055