BBC Northern Ireland's Stephen Nolan is no stranger to shock tactics, but he left his studio audience stunned when he came out with a startling revelation about his manhood on live television.

Introducing what seemed like an innocent segment on obesity, the TV presenter suddenly confessed to problems in the bedroom while chatting to weight loss expert Dr Eva Orsmond.

"There's no other way for me to say this but... and this is true," he stuttered.

"Why when I put on...?

"I can't say it without saying it.

"You get far fewer erections when you're fatter than you do when you're slimmer. Why is that? Can you explain that to me?"

Nolan's admission was met with shock and laughter from the audience, but he went on: "Hold on, I'm actually serious here. I need to get this out of my soul, right?

"When I lost five stone just five months ago I was like a 20-year-old... Here's the problem, it's gone now. It's gone again."

Dr Orsmond replied: "Why, because the blood is going to the wrong places. It used to flow in the right places, now it has to go to the other places because you only have one heart but you are almost carrying two men in that one body."

Weight gain

The revelation came after Nolan said he had put five stone back on after losing seven last year, when he had dropped from 22st down to 15.2st.

"So much for my big diet," he joked, telling the audience he had lost the weight by eating only 600 calories a day for 15 "solid weeks".

"But then I cracked and I started eating all the ice cream again and cookies and crisps which I love," he said.

Measuring the BBC man's waistline to be 51 inches, Dr Orsmond said he was classified as severely morbidly obese and would become diabetic.

Life expectancy

When he defiantly insisted he did not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, she issued the stark warning: "You are 40 years of age and your expected life expectancy is 78 years, as it stands in UK and Ireland.

"At the moment I would expect that you have only around 20 years to go."

She scolded him: "We have been debating tonight about welfare and money and where all this money is coming from. Do you know how much money treatment of overweight and obese and the consequences is actually costing in modern societies?

"It's a huge amount of money that could actually have been be avoided and put into cancer and people who are born with disabilities."

A BBC NI Spokesperson said there had been no formal complaints about the show, adding: "Radio listeners were advised about its content.

"Issues relating to sexual health and well-being are of interest to an adult audience, but should always be handled with care. We will, of course, give careful consideration to any listener feedback. Everything that we do is informed by the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines.”

The chat show also discussed an employment tribunal that has ruled this week that obese workers in Northern Ireland are entitled to the same protection as the disabled.

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Belfast Telegraph