Dancing with the Stars is a great weight loss program, apparently. While Lauren Alaina has always looked beautiful — remember, the number on the scale doesn’t matter — all that footwork led her to shed a significant amount of pounds! “I’ve lost like 25 pounds! Since July,” the 24-year-old American Idol alum confessed to reporters gathered outside the DWTS set in Los Angeles on Oct. 21, per PEOPLE. It was the sixth week of performances, and Lauren added, “None of my clothes fit.”
Lauren’s dancing partner, Gleb Savchenko, took credit for the singer’s new body. “You’re welcome,” he jokingly told Lauren. Despite their light-hearted comments, Lauren and Gleb put on an emotional performance on the Oct. 21 episode of DWTS. That week’s competition aired on the one-year death anniversary of Lauren’s step-father, Sam Ramker, who had battled Stage 4 cancer. Lauren and Gleb decided to honor this sad day with a contemporary dance to “The Other Side,” which earned applause from all three judges (Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli) and a total score of 26 out of 30!
“I was scared of the dance. I was sad,” Lauren admitted to the reporters, after taking the stage on Monday night. “I was proud that I could do it. I just was really nervous that I was going to get upset before the dance and not be able to do it, breathe, but I got through it, and then I lost it.” Lauren has been performing since the show’s Season 28 premiere, which aired on Sept. 16!
It’s wonderful to see Lauren healthy and glowing! The country singer previously battled bulimia for six years until finally seeking treatment at age 18 (she was 16 years old while performing on American Idol). After overcoming that struggle, Lauren went on to lose 30 pounds by following the Atkins diet, which she talked about in an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife in Sept. 2017.
“It’s really helped me learn how to eat right in a way that’s good for my body,” Lauren told us about the diet that encourages high protein and low carb foods. She added, “It’s changed everything for me. I feel really, really good and I work out, too. I’ve replaced bad habits with good ones.”