Sexy : Fern Britton dramatic weight loss has given her a new lease of lifeat 53 years old.

Sexy : Fern Britton 1

She may be half the woman she was but Fern Britton showed viewers that her dramatic weight loss has given her a new lease of life.

The 53-year-old surprised viewers on her Channel 4 tea-time show by dropping to the floor to perform the splits.

Dressed in a figure-hugging red dress and fishnet tights, she kicked off her shoes to perform the gymnastic feat.

Sexy : Fern Britton 2

Miss Britton had been hosting a feature on the forthcoming series of Britain�s Got Talent when she decided to show of her own special skill.

Most women half her age would struggle to do the splits but the star delivered the move with aplomb.

The presenter dropped from a size 22 after having a gastric band fitted in 2006 and is now a size 14-16.

The surgery involves fitting an inflatable silicone ring around the top of the stomach to create a small pouch so that the patient feels fuller quicker, and consequently eats less.

Sexy : Fern Britton 3

She also lost weight by undertaking a new exercise regime which sees her cycle and power walk.

There was controversy when critics accused her of failing to mention the gastric band and only crediting her diet and exercise when her weight loss began to be noticeable.

Miss Britton said in a recent interview with the Daily Mail: �I had the gastric band for health reasons.

�My cholesterol was high. My knee joints were starting to hurt. I wasn�t able to run. I was approaching 50 and I thought: �Do you know what? I�m going to be different when I�m 50.�

�I was cycling like mad and nothing was happening. My GP said I was a good candidate for a band, so I went ahead. I needed to get healthy. I wasn�t unhappy the way I was; I was unhealthy. I�d been recovering from having children, having a divorce, all those emotional things.�

The mother of four � she has two sons from her first marriage, twins Jack and Harry, 17, and two daughters for her second marriage to TV chef Phil Vickery, Gracie, 13, and Winnie, nine, - said that turning 50 inspired her to make a change in her lifestyle.

Sexy : Fern Britton 4

She said: �Maybe eating was a self-comfort. Up to my 50s, I�d had people to please. Then you get to the stage where you go, �Actually, I don�t need to please any of you any more. I�m not breast-feeding. I�m not pregnant. My body�s my own and I�ve only got myself to concentrate on, so I�m going to do that.� It was wonderful.

�For me it�s worked. I�ve got good cholesterol now. I�m incredibly fit. I�m the same size I was at 24. I can do the splits.�

Miss Britton has had a mixed response to her new weekday tea-time show with ratings not as high as Channel 4 executives hoped.

The series is halfway through its month�s trial but averaged just 970,000 viewers in the tough 5pm slot � behind all its terrestrial rivals.

Sexy : Fern Britton 5

It was beaten by BBC1�s Weakest Link, ITV�s Britain�s Best Dish, BBC2�s Escape To The Country and Five�s Neighbours, which all pulled in more than a million viewers.

In July 2009, Miss Britton left This Morning, which she had co-hosted with Phillip Schofield for a decade, amid reports she was annoyed to discover he was paid �45,000 compared to her �15,000 for presenting All Star Mr & Mrs.