![\"Lorraine](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_image2-1jpeg.jpg\")
The soap star has lost over 6 stone in two years after getting a gastric sleeve(Image: Brett Cove)<\/p>\nLorraine Stanley opens up about her incredible 6 and a half stone weight loss as she prepares to walk down the aisle with her partner of 12 years Mark Perez – and returning to Albert Square<\/p>\n
07:00, 02 Aug 2025Updated 09:31, 02 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
The soap star has lost over 6 stone in two years after getting a gastric sleeve(Image: Brett Cove)<\/p>\n
When <\/a>we catch up with former EastEnders <\/a>actress Lorraine Stanley <\/a>at a glitzy London ball, she couldn\u2019t look more different to Karen Taylor, the lovable yet perpetually dishevelled mum she played on the BBC<\/a> soap from 2017 to 2024. Not only is the 49-year-old looking \u00fcber-glamorous as we chat at the Paul Strank Charitable Trust<\/a> Summer Party \u2013 she\u2019s wearing a white sparkly dress which she proudly declares was purchased on Vinted \u2013 she\u2019s barely recognisable, having lost 6\u00bdst over two years.<\/p>\n Lorraine, who has nine-year-old daughter Nancy with her fianc\u00e9 Mark Perez, shares her excitement about tying the knot this month after a two-year engagement<\/a>, the secrets behind her incredible weight loss<\/a> and why she\u2019s happy, for now, to be her daughter\u2019s personal taxi service\u2026<\/p>\n READ MORE: Frankie Bridge fans ‘obsessed’ with sell-out suit that’s back in new colour<\/a> Hi, Lorraine! We hear you\u2019re getting married later this month\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I am indeed. I\u2019m getting married to my partner in a ceremony local to where we live in Hertfordshire. It\u2019s going to be low-key. From my EastEnders<\/a> gang, Danny Walters<\/a> is coming. I wanted them all to come, but we\u2019re just having a small, intimate wedding at a church, then a pub with a tepee and barbecue.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Martine McCutcheon says she’s ‘much more Zen’ after estranged mum speaks out<\/a>READ MORE: EastEnders fans left stunned as two characters embark on surprise romance<\/a><\/p>\n Will Nancy have a special part to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n She\u2019s the one wearing the big white wedding dress \u2013 well, the flower girl dress. Mine\u2019s modest, really. But I\u2019m so excited. Mark and I have been together for 12 years.<\/p>\n So why tie the knot now?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re just in a really good place. You know, every couple goes through their ups and downs, but it feels right, we\u2019re happy. Nancy wanted us to get married, I wanted his surname \u2013 I know some women don\u2019t want that but I do. I want to be Mrs Perez. I\u2019ve been abroad a few times with Nancy and was asked if she\u2019s my daughter as we have different surnames on our passports. But it\u2019s not just practicalities, it\u2019s love.<\/p>\n Why do you and Mark work so well together?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve got an understanding, we respect each other. We give each other space, we\u2019ve got our own lives. He\u2019s the best father. He\u2019s in marketing, so nothing to do with my world<\/a>, though I think he could be an actor \u2013 he can be quite dramatic at times!<\/p>\n You\u2019re 50 next year. How do you feel?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m feeling great. I looked 20 years older when I was bigger. I certainly felt it anyway. I won\u2019t have a big showbiz bash. We might go to Disney World Florida<\/a>. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n You look incredible. Tell us about the transformation\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve lost 6\u00bdst. I weigh 8st now. If you look at my little wrists and ankles, this is the weight I should have been. I should be a thin person. And I always was, until I hit my late twenties.<\/p>\n How did you lose the weight?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to lie, nor am I promoting it, but I had weight-loss surgery two years ago<\/a>. I had a gastric sleeve. I went to Harley Street. I didn\u2019t go to a clinic in Turkey or anything. In saying that, I\u2019ve had friends who\u2019ve gone to Turkey and had great experiences, but I didn\u2019t trust that process. So, yeah, I went to a London clinic, paid an awful lot of money and had it done. It\u2019s hands-down the best thing I\u2019ve ever done \u2013 both for me and for my family.<\/p>\n I can play with my daughter. I used to be so big I couldn\u2019t chase her up the road. I was missing out on so much \u2013 even playing a bit of football with her outside. It\u2019s changed everything.<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty drastic surgery. What was the big lightbulb moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was at home watching an episode of EastEnders<\/a> I was in and I could barely look at myself. The person on screen was unrecognisable to me. I know TV puts a stone on you, but\u2026 so yes, there was an element of vanity, but it was also me wanting to change things for my daughter and our future.<\/p>\n Did you try any weight-loss jabs before opting for surgery?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I\u2019d tried Wegovy. I have friends on different weight-loss jabs and they work for them. I\u2019m not against them, but for whatever reason I feel like I got immune to them. It got to the point where I was injecting myself and eating at the same time. I was thinking, \u201cWhat the hell are you doing?\u201d So I decided that was it, time to get this surgery booked.<\/p>\n Do you feel like a new woman?<\/strong><\/p>\n Where do I start? I\u2019m healthier, I\u2019m fitter and it\u2019s changed my mindset for the better. I still enjoy a square or two of chocolate, but everything\u2019s in small portions. I can eat what I want, just smaller amounts of it.<\/p>\n It has been hard, though. You\u2019ve got to work at your portions. You don\u2019t want to overeat as you can stretch the gastric band. And you don\u2019t want to do that as you\u2019ve paid good money for it. But for me \u2013 and this is totally personal \u2013 it\u2019s the best thing I could have done.<\/p>\n Would you go back on EastEnders?<\/strong><\/p>\n Maybe \u2013 they didn\u2019t kill me off. But right now, I wouldn\u2019t. I\u2019m enjoying Nancy. On EastEnders, I missed a lot of milestones. Now I\u2019m like her personal taxi driver for skateboarding, piano lessons \u2013 and I love it. I\u2019ve gone for a few auditions. I haven\u2019t got anything yet, but I will. And if I don\u2019t, I don\u2019t mind that either. I\u2019m so happy being a mum.<\/p>\n Would you go on any of the big reality TV shows?<\/strong><\/p>\n If the money was amazing, maybe. But it\u2019s not my thing. I love acting, theatre especially, so I want to try and keep on that path. I\u2019d love a role at the National Theatre. That\u2019s where I started my career, so it would be a nice full-circle moment.<\/p>\n * Follow Mirror Celebs on<\/strong> Snapchat<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Instagram<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Twitter<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Facebook<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> YouTube<\/strong><\/a> and<\/strong> Threads<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Lorraine was speaking to us at the Paul Strnk Charitable Trust Summer Ball. See www.justgiving.com\/charity\/paulstrank-charitabletrust<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Lorraine](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Screenshot-2023-09-21-at-104702JPG.jpg\")
The actress is set to marry fiance Mark this month(Image: lorraine_stanley_\/instagram)![\"Lorraine](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_The-British-Soap-Awards-2023-Arrivals.jpg\")
The actress has lost a whopping 6 and a half stone(Image: WireImage)<\/p>\n![\"Lorraine](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_EastEnders-star-Lorraine-Stanley-hits-back-at-brutal-grandmother-assumptions-on-TikTok-after-her-s.jpeg\")
The star says she feels like a new woman – and a better parent – since her dramatic weight loss(Image: Instagram\/Lorraine Stanley)<\/p>\n![\"Lorraine](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_448983EastEnders.jpg\")
Lorraine played Karen Taylor on the Square for seven years(Image: BBC\/Jack Barnes\/Kieron McCarron)<\/p>\n