A middle-aged mum has told how she managed to shed half her body weight after secretly taking up POLE DANCING. Mel Lovell, 48, decided to take up the racy hobby after other failed attempts to slim, including having a gastric band fitted. She signed up for a beginners class in pole dancing without telling her friends or family and found herself hooked - despite tipping the scales at nearly 20 stone. And just over a year later Mel, who runs her own cleaning business in Plymouth, Devon, has lost more than 10 stone.