Fight the flab with the famous

No problem, just enlist a celebrity as your personal trainer and fight the flab in your living room.

Strictly Come Dancing winner Camilla Dallerup, Davina McCall, Loose Women presenter Coleen Nolan, Spice Girl Mel B, actress Letitia Dean and skating star Jayne Torvill are just a few famous folk with fab figures fighting to help you via their new fitness DVDs.

And let’s face it, having one of the girls as an exercise buddy beats revealing the post Christmas bulges in a crowded exercise class or coping with gym bunny poseurs in spray-on Lycra.

We’ve put the celebrities through their paces to find out if they really can turn couch potatoes into hot potatoes, and the fairly fit into fab bods.

If fame turns you off and you want a celebrity-free fitness zone, we’ve also tested a fitness DVD with bite-size routines that’s taken the States by storm.

:: COLEEN NOLAN’S DISCOBURN (£19.99, 108 minutes)

The star of ITV’s Loose Women is currently topping the fitness DVD charts with this workout.

It’s no surprise that Coleen, who gained fame for her hit ‘I’m In The Mood For Dancing’ has a programme full of disco moves. The seven sections cover all key body issues - from toning abs to lower body conditioning.

VERDICT: It’s a great workout suitable for all abilities and 43-year-old Coleen’s bubbly personality and the disco tunes make it feel fun rather than a sweaty chore.

Disco Aerobics - Lo Heat is a good starting point and targets all problem areas but should leave you with enough breath at the end to watch Loose Women. Doing a couple of sections each day, combined with a healthy eating plan, could certainly boost fitness.

BEST FOR: Disco queens and mums could be inspired by this mother-of-three’s achievement in losing five stone and shrinking from a size 20 to a size 10.

(Polly Weeks)

:: DANCE OFF THE INCHES WITH CAMILLA DALLERUP (£17.99, 60 mins - minimum workout 10 minutes)

Camilla, the professional dancer who spun Holby City actor Tom Chambers to the winning post in Strictly Come Dancing, has a dance-away the flab fitness programme.

There’s a warm-up, four workout sections (mambo and cha-cha, jive, funky and calorie burner) and a cool down.

Camilla, 34, promises that doing 50 minutes of the dance routines three times a week will result in a toned body, one dress size smaller.

VERDICT: Pairing the work-out to the dance tempo is initially quite tricky, so expect to struggle at first (just like Tom).

But there’s a buzz after the constant repetition finally lets you see dance-sense and you’ll soon be joyfully chanting ‘Keep Dancing’.

Just like the modest Camilla (who refreshingly keeps chat to the minimum) this is a slick, but understated production.

BEST FOR: A boon for the nation’s podgy, dodgy dancers a la John Sergeant, while the funky Ministry of Sound soundtrack will appeal to younger Strictly fans.

(Susan Griffin)

:: TOTALLY FIT WITH MEL B (£19.99 - £21.99 deluxe edition from www.totallyfit.com, 100 minutes)

Mel B’s got one of the best sets of abs in showbiz. In this, her first fitness DVD, we’re transported to her sun-kissed Los Angeles base where the former Spice Girl flaunts her toned physique clad in skimpy tops.

Scary Spice even introduces us to her personal nutrition regime by cooking with husband, Stephen Belafonte.

VERDICT: Mel’s broken down the programme into user-friendly sections so you can focus on an all-over body cardio or advanced cardio workout, or specific areas - arms, legs, bum or tum.

She’s bubbly and energetic throughout but also amusing, and the music is uplifting. Unlike some celebrity DVDs you get the impression that Mel actually does work out and enjoy fitness. In the bonus DVD you can even go shopping with her for workout gear and running in the Hollywood Hills.

Mel keeps it real by showing her pain - she includes squeals of ‘ouch’ and ‘owww!’ occasionally.

BEST FOR: Those who know ‘what they really, really want’ and are looking to spice up their workout. It’s quite challenging, so probably more suitable for regular exercisers than beginners.

(April Gray)

:: DAVINA’S SUPER BODY WORKOUT (£19.99, 125 minutes)

Big Brother’s Davina McCall has a new military-style regime to get you in shape.

It’s a mix of aerobics, kick boxing, abdominal and leg work, and her trainers, husband and wife team Jackie and Mark Wren, have devised six different workouts targeting every part of the body.

If it’s a six-pack you’re after there’s also 10 minutes of dedicated ab exercises.

VERDICT: I’ve tried out her previous fitness DVDs and this one is definitely the best. Routines can be mixed and matched to avoid monotony.

While 40-year-old Davina’s voice and enthusiasm can grate, she’s not wrong when she warns “Exercise is not just for Christmas, it’s for life”.

You can’t help warming to her after seeing her ditch her dignity and attempt a Royal Navy assault course.

BEST FOR: ‘Housemates’ who like a slow-burn rather than a savage programme. It’s particularly good for wobbly tums and thighs.

(Tanya Russell)

:: LETITIA DEAN’S LEAN ROUTINE DVD (£19.99, 55 minutes - minimum workout 10 minutes)

Former EastEnders actress Letitia Dean recently dramatically transformed from a size 16 to size eight. She and her trainer Dee Thresher use high energy dancing and high-intensity aerobic training in this four-part workout regime.

Its simple calorie-crunching exercises aim to fat-bust fast, and it features a Latin session, Bingo Buster (arm exercises for the upper arm) and Muffin shrinker for tummies.

VERDICT: Letitia admits she’s always been on the “chunky side of curvy” and was last year criticised by the judges on Strictly Come Dancing for being overweight.

She looks great but it’s her brilliant trainer Dee who makes this DVD worth buying. The up-tempo, uplifting Latin section is a great workout that raised my heart rate, my energy level and my spirits.

BEST FOR: Soap fans who want a quick, high-intensity workout, and after three to four sessions (with no sneaky visits to the Queen Vic or equivalent) could see the benefits.

(Anna Smith)

:: LOSE IT! WITH JAYNE TORVILL (£19.99, 60 mins - minimum workout 10 minutes)

Jayne piled on the pounds when she retired from professional skating 10 years ago, going from size 8 to a 14 in a year. But TV’s Dancing On Ice inspired her to get fit again and this is how she did it.

Lose It! combines skating-inspired steps with high intensity intervals that burn fat.

The workout is split into a 10-minute warm-up, two 15-minute aerobic sessions, called Ice Body Burner and a fat-burning Bolero Blitz, with a crunch and tone session to finish.

VERDICT: The sight of Jayne, now 51, in a mini skirt and crop top with toned legs and the hint of a six pack is enough to make even the most lazy of middle-aged couch potatoes start moving in step.

Her hunky personal trainer Dan Little, who leads you through the steps, is an added bonus as Jayne isn’t a charismatic, chatty presenter.

You’ll need a lot of room space for the aerobics and prepare to feel sore after the toning session but this isn’t so challenging it’s off-putting.

Go for gold with the Bolero Blitz, based on Torvill & Dean’s sensual winning Olympic routine.

BEST FOR: Those who want to gently glide back to fitness, and have played it cool with the gym for years.

(Kate Whiting)

:: 10 MINUTE SOLUTION (£6.99, 50 minutes - minimum workout 10 minutes)

There’s a lot you can do in 10 minutes: make a cup of tea, paint your toenails and, according to these DVDs, have a ‘hot body’. Hailing from the birthplace of convenience, this quick-fix series has taken the States by storm.

VERDICT: As you launch into lunges and zoom through squats you literally will be ‘sizzling’. The pace is fast, so have a remote at the ready. Drills such as ‘crawling through mud’ and ‘jumping the barbed wire’ would also be tricky to perform in a small living room. But the bite-sized segments are easy to squeeze into a busy schedule.

BEST FOR: Busy people with short attention spans seeking a more advanced work out.

(Sarah Marshall)