The moment that left Karl Stefanovic speechless

ON THE premiere of This Time Next Year a couple pledged to lose weight for their wedding. The results were spectacular.

IT’S not often that Karl Stefanovic is rendered speechless.

But last night, during the premiere of Nine’s new offering This Time Next Year he could merely utter the word “wow’ repeatedly when he saw the transformation one couple had made in the lead up to their wedding.
For the uninitiated, the premise of the show is that people make a pledge, and then a year later they return to reveal to host Stefanovic (and a studio audience) whether they’ve managed to keep their promise.

To the audience its an instant transformation, but for the people involved, it’s often a gruelling year.

A year ago NSW couple Darren and Jennifer, both 39, made a promise to lose weight for their upcoming nuptials.

Jennifer and Darren, when they first met Karl on ‘This Time Next Year’.

For Jennifer, the motivation was simple: “We’ve gone through life as the bigger couple ... and I don’t want to be that fat bride”, she told Stefanovic on their first meeting.

As her fiance Darren put it, “I love her [Jennifer] the way she is, but by the same token I’m sick of being the fat fella ... no more fat fumbly sex”.

So they set themselves a goal. Jennifer wanted to be a size 10-12 on the big day. To get there she would need to lose at least 50kg (at the time of setting the goal, she weighed 109kg).

Darren weighed in at 138.8kg and wanted to get down to at least 95kg.

So between them, they were aiming to lose 100kg.

The first step in their journey was to undergo gastric band surgery.

They booked in to have the procedure by the same doctor on the same day, as they “literally do everything together”.

After the procedure they set about adjusting their diet, and throwing themselves into a new exercise regimen.

“Once recovery was over we got stuck into exercise and it’s become our lives,” said Jennifer.

Their dedication paid off. When they returned to the show — dressed in wedding attire — a gobsmacked Karl told them they were “unrecognisable ... in the best possible way”.

Host Karl Stefanovic, with Darren and Jennifer on 'This Time Next Year'.

Darren lost a whopping 61kg to get down to 77.8kg — well beyond his goal of 95kg.

Jennifer got down to 73.9kg and — to her sheer joy — purchased a pair of size 10 jeans the week before returning to the show.

Darren and Jennifer chat to Karl Stefanovic about their weight loss journey. Picture: Nine

When speaking to news.com.au in the lead up to the episode airing, the couple revealed that they had lost even more weight since filming the big reveal.

“I hit my goal weight of 69kg this morning,” said Jennifer.

“We haven’t been this weight since we were in year 7.”

Since they filmed their follow-up episode, the pair has tied the knot. And they felt a million bucks on their wedding day.

Jennifer and Darren on their wedding day. Picture: Supplied

Jennifer and Darren exchange vows on their wedding day. Picture: Supplied

While their wedding was certainly a highlight, they say they also get a kick out of people not recognising them.

“One of my co-workers was talking about going down to karaoke a while back,” recalls Darren, who runs a karaoke business with Jennifer.

“When he was telling me about it he said there was ‘some fat guy’ hosting it.

“I said ‘that’s me’ and I had to show him an old photo of me before he’d believe it”.

This Time Next Year screens on Mondays at 8.45pm on Nine.