Blue’s Antony Costa goes shirtless after shedding weight via healthy eating plan

Blue singer Antony Costa has unveiled a newly slimmed-down frame, after embracing a new healthier diet and lifestyle during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The All Rise hitmaker, 39, has gone shirtless to unveil his weight loss, which he achieved through a food plan from delivery service MuscleFood’s Goal Getters plan.

And the star has revealed to MailOnline that his eating habits before the overhaul were ‘terrible’, consisting of unhealthy snacks and drinks between many yo-yo diets. 

He said: ‘Lockdown was my advantage – there weren’t any gyms, there was nowhere to go, everything was closed, I thought this is the perfect time to lose the weight.’ 

First spotting the healthy food plan on Instagram, Antony was inspired by friends who had already embarked on their MuscleFood journey, including Gogglebox star Amy Tapper and her dad Jonathan.

He said: ‘I’m quite close to them [Amy and Jonathan] so I saw them doing the MuscleFood Super Slimmer plan and thought if they can do it, so can I.’

Antony started his new diet plan during lockdown, aiming to break the bad eating habits he’d become used to, and switching them for healthy and sustainable choices that helped him to lose the weight over time, unlike his previous crash diets.

‘I was terrible,’ Antony admitted of his past eating habits, ‘It’s just easy eating… “beige food” I call it – sausage rolls or sandwiches, crisps, fizzy drinks, and then in the summer when it was hot, it was the beer, alcohol, BBQs.

‘It’s finding the balance, and the MuscleFood plans give you the right amount of food that’s really tasty as well.

‘There are so many food and snack options that I chose a different menu each week to make sure that I had a variety and didn’t feel like I was on a restrictive diet.

‘With options like Pizza, Peri Peri Chicken and Fish and Chips as well as healthy crisps and protein bars, I was still able to have my all-time favourites without feeling like I was cheating.’

He continued: ‘I’ve done many diets before and I’ve always “yo-yoed”. I’ve done those intense diets where it’s like lose a stone in a month or two stone in two weeks, but it just never works out because it’s not gradual. This plan is completely different.’

Although Antony didn’t have any specific diet or fitness goals at the start of his plan other than to lose some weight, he credits his success to having the discipline to stick to the programme as much as possible.

His eating plan, which sees him receive a delivery of three meals and three snacks each week, has also allowed him to temper his previous obsession with the gym to the point it started to affect his personal life.

The star said: ‘I don’t have to go to the gym every day. I can if I want, but it isn’t taking over my life. I can eat tasty food and I’m losing weight – everyone’s a winner.’

Regarding his goals for 2021, Antony stated he’s ‘going to take each day as it comes’, looking forward to lockdown restrictions being over and continue his good exercise and training regime.

Back in September, Antony revealed that he had achieved a 1st weight loss in just four weeks, when he took to Instagram to unveil his slimmed down body.

The singer shared before and after snaps of himself posing shirtless as he showed his smaller torso this week, an achievement which left him feeling ‘amazing’.

Explaining that his weight loss was achieved with a new diet and fitness overhaul, the star enthused: ‘4 weeks in and 1 stone down!!!’

‘I feel amazing, healthier and fitter than I have in years,’ Anthony added, before going on to reveal that he has been receiving meal deliveries to help him reach his goal.

He wrote: ‘This just goes to show how important your diet is! I’ve been smashing the gym too but the plan makes it so so easy for me to keep on top of everything.

‘I get all my food delivered to my door every week. That’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks sorted for me for 7 days! It couldn’t be easier. Plus I get to eat pizza, pasta and all sorts of other food that I LOVE while still getting results!’

However, the musician won’t be resting on his laurels just yet, as he’s only part of the way into his plan – as he revealed when embarking on his journey in August.

Alongside snaps of himself posing in his kitchen, the father-of-two wrote: ‘I’ve challenged myself to get rid of my “dad bod” over the next 12 weeks and this plan is going to help me get there! So I’m posting these pics to keep myself accountable!’

He confessed: ‘I’ve always struggled with managing my weight and lockdown didn’t help… I can’t wait to get cracking.’

After sporting a fuller frame at the start of 2018, the star made an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, where he revealed he had lost 16lbs. 

Discussing his appearance on Channel 5’s Get A Holiday Body: Lose A Stone In 4 Weeks, he told host Lorraine Kelly that he had lost more than a stone. 

He also explained that he did the show for himself and his family as he didn’t want to be ‘that dad’ running around out of breath in the park with his two daughters, Savannah Rosa, six, and Paloma Valentina, three. 

The star, who has been with his partner Rosanna Jasmin since 2012, said: ‘I feel on top of the world, Lorraine, a different person.’ 

Antony was then showed a photograph of himself at the start of the series, where he looked unhappy and had his arms crossed.

Talking about the snap, he said: ‘It was just my posture and the way I was standing, I was not happy in myself. As the weeks got on, my posture got better, I feel great – ready to take on the world.’

He added: ‘People have been so complimentary, people tweeting me on social media, saying, “You’re an inspiration!”

‘I never suffered from mental health, but I had insecurities, if I was with the boys [his fellow Blue bandmates Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe] not feeling myself, I would think if I was on TV, [for example]: “Lorraine is not going to talk to me because I look rubbish.”

‘I’ve turned a negative into a positive, I’m going to take on the world now. It was my insecurities I had to get out of, I did the show for myself and my family.

‘I didn’t want to be that dad running out of breath in the park. I have done this show and loved every minute of it, I’ve learnt how to cook!’

He added: ‘I haven’t touched the bad stuff for two and a half months, I want to get to that stage where I’m happy with myself and I can have a cheat day then go to the gym the next day.

‘The gym has taken over my life, I love it, Lorraine. I feel great, that’s just me, I’m so happy with myself.’

North London native Antony shot to fame alongside his Blue bandmates Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, and Duncan James back in 2001 with their debut single All Rise and their follow-up release, a chart-topping cover of Next’s R&B hit Too Close.

After enjoying a string of hits, the group went on hiatus in 2005, but reformed in 2011 when they represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest, placing 11th.