Westmeaths alan mullen on this years operation transformation

Operation Transformation begins this Wednesday for Rosemount's Alan Mullen (21).

Alan is one of five leaders in the new series of the weight loss show, which returns on Wednesday and Thursday, January 7 and 8.

Speaking this week, Alan, who will be the show’s youngest male leader to date, said he was looking forward to the experience.

“I’m feeling determined now. I can’t wait for everything to get started,” said the Moate Business College student, who weighs 26 stone and smokes 40 cigarettes a day.

The new series of the show will be broadcast over eight “hectic” weeks and will include the staging of a nationwide Operation Transformation walk in Moate.

He added that there will be several other events over the course of the series, including a 'know your numbers’ day when he will be going into shopping centres and asking people to get their cholesterol checked.

• The new series of Operation Transformation will begin on Wednesday and Thursday next, January 7 and 8, at 8.30pm on RTÉ One. Read more on Alan's story in tomorrow's edition of the Westmeath Examiner.