Kate DeAraugo, former winner of Australian Idol, reveals her 60kg weight loss after gastric sleeve surgery

FORMER Australian Idol Kate DeAraugo has shown off her new slim figure and revealed she had 75 per cent of her stomach removed after her weight ballooned to 125kg.

FORMER Australian Idol winner Kate DeAraugo has revealed she has lost 60kg after having a gastric sleeve fitted and seventy-five per cent of her stomach removed.

The singer, who won the 2005 series of the talent show, has appeared on the cover of Woman’s Day flaunting her new slim figure.

But DeAraugo says it was surgery that has helped her literally halve her size, after her weight ballooned to 125kg.

The procedure means she can now barely eat one cup of food at a time.

Kate DeAraugo shows off her stunning transformation on this week’s cover of Woman’s Day.

The 28-year-old says she opted for the radical procedure after suffering depression and undergoing liposuction before hitting rock bottom.

“I used to open my eyes in the morning and think ‘S — t, I’m still fat’”, she told Woman’s Day.“When I was that big, there were days when I wouldn’t get into the shower because I didn’t want to look at myself.

“I didn’t go out because I was terrified I’d bump into people who would look at me and see how big I was.”

Kate DeAraugo in September 2013.

DeAraugo appeared on celebrity weight loss program Excess Baggage in a bid to lose weight.

DeAraugo said the wake-up call came when she realised she was huffing and puffing while drying herself after a shower and got tired just walking around.

She also revealed she has battled with substance abuse, but she is now happy “for the first time in a long, long time”.

DeAraguo currently works in breakfast radio in Coffs Harbour on the NSW mid-north coast and has been dating builder’s labourer Shannon Vick, 29, for the past eight months.

She says she is also working on her singing career and plans to release a new album reworking songs from an album two years ago. She also hopes to lose a further 6kg.

Australian Idol Winner Kate DeAraugo and runner-up Emily Williams in 2005.

Originally published as Kate DeAraugo, former winner of Australian Idol, reveals her 60kg weight loss after gastric sleeve surgery