Celebrity panellist Claire Sweeney has been dropped by a dieting firm after admitting she lost 7lbs using a rival’s plan

Sweeney, 39, known for her role as a panellist on the Loose Women show, had been set to sign what was believed to be a lucrative deal with weight-loss company Go Lower.

However, the Edinburgh-based firm has ditched Sweeney following an appearance on the cover of the latest magazine from WeightWatchers.

In its October cover story, titled ‘How I stay at a healthy and happy 10st’, Sweeney claims her shedding of pounds during the filming of the forthcoming BBC1 series Candy Cabs was thanks to the points system used by WeightWatchers.  This caused infuriated Go Lower executives to ditch their new role model, who rose to prominence in the Channel 4 series Brookside, particularly after Sweeney had previously informed a different magazine – Closer – that her weight loss was due to the Go Lower program.

In the feature article inside the WeightWatchers magazine, Sweeney said she was so happy with her trim new figure that she had even encouraged her mum to sign up. The glamorous TV star said that by sticking to the 18 points values every day she was delighted with the resulted for her 5ft 8in figure, adding that her mother’s recent complaints about her own weight issues had led to her signing up Sweeney senior to the WeightWatchers system last week. She also suggested that she was looking for a toy boy for whom to have kids with.