It may be over, but Clare is only getting started ....

BETWEEN the 5k walk on Saturday morning and the catwalk show on Sunday night, Clare Scanlan had a ball during the final week of her Operation Transformation experience.

During the eight-week programme, the 39-year old woman from Castlefreke, near Clonakilty, endeared herself to the four other Operation Transformation leaders, the panel of experts, the presenter Kathryn Thomas, and all the rest of us in TV land who looked on in admiration at everything she achieved.

During an interview on Tuesday, Clare could not say exactly how much weight she has lost, because the result won’t be televised until Thursday night, February 25th, but with half a million visitors tuning in every week, it will be common knowledge soon enough.

Of course, at this stage of the game, the numbers are not as important as the celebrations, because when we celebrate our successes, we acknowledge our personal growth and that’s what keeps us on track, keeps us motivated.

Clare said the highlight of the weekend was, for her, the 5k run or walk in the Phoenix Park on Saturday morning. ‘I can’t describe it,’ she said, referring to the fact that 5,000 people turned up for the event. 

‘There was so much good wishes and people wanting selfies. There was a general kind of happiness to it,’ she said. ‘They were brilliant – people are brilliant.’

Getting glammed up for the final show, which was filmed in RTÉ on Sunday night, was actually a two-day process that started with the selection of her beautiful Part Eight dress from Arnotts on Saturday, plus hours and hours of getting her nails, hair and make-up done.

It was a case of more last minute touches to her appearance on Sunday as Clare and her rather svelte looking husband Tom – who has lost 20lbs – her family, and her friends, gathered at Montrose for the finale.

Clare’s proud parents, Vera and Christy O’Donovan, travelled up from Castlefreke for the event; as did her brothers, Noel and Aidan, and their families; childhood friends from West Cork Elaine O’Donovan and Cara Morrison; as well as her friends from West Limerick, where she now lives.

Clare said she and the four other leaders are all too aware ‘we’re only getting started’.