Things went downhill for Richards after she separated from her band.
Her marriage to Mark Webb failed in just two years. And she only packed on the pounds.
But things changed once she found love again after her divorce from Webb in 2005. She rekindled her romance with Reece Hill, whom she had known since her early days in Steps.
The pair announced their engagement in January 2008. The marriage proposal became the wake-up call for Richards since she didn't want to be a fat bride.
Richards was wearing a size 22 dress then, but her target was to fit into a size 12.
With the perfect dress in mind, she got the motivation to lose weight.
Richards' drastic weight loss for her wedding was documented in the reality TV movie Claire Richards - My Big Fat Wedding.
It has been years since she lost weight for her wedding, but Richards told in her Closer interview that she still struggled with food.
That being said, she has "got to a point where I’ve managed to maintain my weight for nearly five years now, so I feel like I’ve got to a place where I’m all right."
Also, her recent Instagram posts suggest she has maintained a slim figure remarkably.
