Lisa Riley returns to Loose Women after recovering from her skin removal surgery

She looks incredible!

Lisa Riley has revealed the results of her excess skin removal surgery after her incredible weight loss journey.

In her first in-person appearance on the show since her operation, Lisa looked proud and excited to show off her new figure, wearing a flattering jumpsuit borrowed from Andrea McLean which showed off just how many pounds she'd shed.

'I keep stroking myself, I can't believe it, it's incredible!' she said of her transformation.

'I have to remember to close the curtains at home, as I'm constantly walking around naked!'

Adding that she'd had one stone and one pound of fat removed from her body, Lisa said that she'd felt that the surgery was a necessity, rather than a choice: 'Some people have said I'm choosing to do this, but in my head I had corrective surgery because I COULDN'T go on as I was. Everything was jiggling around,' she confessed.

'I love exercise and training, but in yoga class I couldn't do certain poses because I had a big mound in the way!'

Earlier this month, Lisa appeared on the show via live link to update her fellow panellists on her recovery.

'I put some make up on for you,' she quipped as she greeted host Ruth Langsford across the screens. 'Normally I'm just in my 'jamas and no make up but I feel great! Obviously the pain can be really bad at times, especially the abdominal pain, and today more than ever, the inside of my thighs where the wound is.'

'I think the wound, today, it's really nipping together, so I've literally got to find comfy spots all the time to take the pain away. But one thing's for sure - was it worth it? 100 per cent.'

'I've never been that frightened for anything in my life before, and it took over me,' she admitted.

'But on the day of the actual operation I just went with it, put myself into the hands of a specialist, let them do what they do and they were phenomenal, all the staff in my hospital really looked after me and now it's my job to go through the recovery period.'

'Have you looked in the mirror or felt yourself to feel the difference?' fellow panellist Katie Price asked her. 'How did you feel, was it emotional?'

'The shape that I asked for, I said I wanted to be a cello, and I'm completely a cello,' Lisa replied. 'It's the most incredible feeling, everything's so tight, everything’s flat!'

Lisa will return to her specialist to decide when to have the next stage of her operation, which will involve her breasts, back and arms.

Viewers were quick to praise her as an 'inspiration', adding that she looks 'radiant' and 'so happy'. Her upbeat attitude was a stark contrast to a previous appearance earlier in the year, when she couldn't help but break down in tears at the thought of going under general anaesthetic.

Speaking to the Loose Women panel and live audience, Lisa admitted she was 'petrified' about having the surgery.

Trying to hold back tears, she said: 'I'm petrified going under the anaesthetic'. Jane Moore and Anne Diamond tried to comfort the former Emmerdale actress, as she continued, 'It's the ultimate fear that I won't wake up.'

Explaining that the procedure will be completed in different stages, Lisa said, 'It's in two parts with the first part coming up now'.

Pointing at her stomach area, Lisa continued, 'Which is all the excess skin here and all the back fat I have, the inside of my thighs and my lady garden as well.'

'My breasts and arms will be the last.'

As Andrea McLean insisted she would be fine, Lisa thanked the Loose Women audience and viewers for all of their support.

'I just personally want to thank all the Loose Women viewers, and the support I have on social media has been unbelievable and I hope that's going to get me through the next five weeks, which is going to be desperately hard.

'People have judged me and said what they want to say but excuse the pun, I've become thick skinned.'

Lisa has previously opened up about the torment of living with her excess skin after her 10 stone weight loss.

During an appearance on Loose Women in January, Lisa spoke about her upcoming surgery, revealing she'd be having the 'horrendous' loose skin that she's been left with after weight loss removed.

Despite trying to rid herself of the excess skin through diet and exercise, she admitted that surgery was the only option for her.

Lisa explained to the panel: 'I've said before that I've worked with trainers and they've said "There's no training in the world that is going to get rid of this" and I was like no, because I can start feeling - there is muscle under here - and I was working even harder. And it becomes addictive in that sense because you want more and more reaction.'

'But the boobs, the front here - what they call the apron - is now at a point of ridiculousness. So I was nervous, I spoke to friends and family and I was like "no", there is no other alternative.'

The actress and presenter now weighs just under 12 stone. But despite being thrilled with her slimming, she said it's 'awful' looking at the skin that's been left behind.

'It's awful and it's gone worse and worse. The reflection that I'm seeing now it's just horrendous. Everywhere I go people say "you've done so well" and I find myself going "thank you, thank you" but you've no idea what it's like when I'm in my bedroom with that mirror.'

Lisa added that she's going to have the skin weighed after the surgery to note another stage of her weight loss journey.

Last year, Lisa discussed the motivation behind her surgery plans in an interview with OK! magazine, saying that she finds her thighs 'repugnant'.

'My front and inner thighs are repugnant - they're like a sheared poodle! I can clap without using my hands because my body claps for me during Zumba.'

Lisa has strongly denied claims of weight loss surgery, and even underwent a lie detector test during an appearance on Loose Women to prove that she lost the weight naturally.

'I have smaller portions now,' she said. 'I don't believe in fad diets, even though I have tried them before. I have no food after 6.30pm.

'I only eat a carb if I need one and absolutely no bread or booze. I've been going to zumba classes which is fun. I find the gym is boring.'

The soap actress added: 'Doing Strictly [in 2012] kick started my metabolism. I saw a difference dancing seven hours a day and then I just ate soup as I didn't want all that food jiggling around while I danced.

'It's hard for me to see my reflection now. I used to have a shelf from here to here and where's that gone?

'It is insane. I looked so different before. I was happy before but now I am happy and proud.'

Mariana Cerqueira
Lifestyle Editor

Mariana is a lifestyle writer who has written for Goodto.com and My Imperfect Life. She joined the Goodto.com team as an intern after completing her journalism MA at City University. After six months spent writing about food, celebrity news, and family trends, Mariana left to write for Healthy Food magazine - but returned in 2017, to join the Future team once again. In her spare time, you’ll find Mariana in the kitchen cooking for her friends.