Working in Cafe Venue in Debenhams, the temptation of delicious cakes and buns was just too much - and by last November he weighed in at a mammoth 23 stone.

Now thanks to a good diet and exercise Tony has shed almost half his body weight losing ten stone. And he's delighted to no longer be known as 'the fat bloke.'

Tony, who got to the bootcamp round of X-Factor in 2007, says he's now determined to return to the competition next year to see if Simon Cowell recognises him.

"I woke up last November, it was dark outside and my body was aching from a hard day's work," he said. "I had sores from my weight of 23 stone and aches and pains. I turned on the light, looked at myself in the mirror and thought: 'God I need to get rid of this weight.' But that evening I was back to my old ways of getting take-aways on the way home, sinking a few beers and falling asleep on the sofa.

"In those days I couldn't even buy clothes, they had to be ordered from the Internet. When I had to travel for meetings I hated getting on the plane and asking for more room or a bigger seatbelt. People would look at you funny like they didn't want to sit beside the fat bloke."
On Christmas day when his sister Karen Sharkey gave him a present of a gym membership and a promise that she would go exercising with him - Tony knew he had to give it a go.

"The first day at Platinum Gym I stood on the scales holding my stomach hoping the little gauge would go below 20 stone," he said.
"Of course it didn't - I was hitting 21 stone. My heart sunk."
Spurred on by the fact that he had already lost two stone Tony vowed to be 15 stone by Christmas 2009.

"When I got home I sat down on my laptop and prepared a spread sheet with the days of the week," he said. "I was shocked when I read a man should be eating 2500 cals per day as I was eating 4000 cals per day.

'Sucking in'
"The hardest thing was cutting out all the rubbish that I ate. With hard work and cardio training the stones and pounds started to fall, I didn't go on the scales for the first month but on February 5 I stood on the scales holding my breath sucking in my stomach.

"I jumped off and asked if the scales were broken. I'd lost one stone and three pounds."

By July Tony had shifted six stone - and last week he weighed in at 13 stone. He's now set a new goal of 12 stone seven pounds for Christmas.
"I know with correct eating, going to the gym three times a week and with the amazing support of my dear family and my friends at work I'll lose even more," he said.

Now down to a healthy weight Tony keeps trim by snacking on fruit at work.

However he hasn't bought too many smaller clothes, insisting he wants to get to his target weight before he hits the shops.

"Some of my friends walk past me in the street now," he said. "They just don't recognise me."