Kathryn Thomas; from Operation Transformation to the face of fitness in Ireland
It’s the week after the finale of Operation Transformation and Kathryn Thomas is still flying high. She flew to London straight after the last show to be in the audience for the final of BBC1’s Let It Shine where her fiancé’s son Conor narrowly lost out on winning. Despite being shattered, she’s still displaying the fizzy exuberance that has become her trademark.
“I think it will take a while to come down from Operation Transformation this year,” she says. “The leaders this year really connected with everybody, and the campaigns we did with the show went through the roof so we are all just thrilled.”
There is no respite on the cards for Thomas, who has just held her first Pure Results One Day Detox event in Dublin’s Radisson St Helens hotel. It was the first ‘off camp’ event for Pure Results, the fitness retreat started by Thomas and her sister Linda in 2015, aiming to give prospective clients a taster of what to expect during a week-long bootcamp with the team.
Pure Results is the realisation of a long-term dream for Thomas, who has spent years traversing the globe as both a broadcaster and fitness fanatic.
“I’ve done so many camps and retreats all around the world and any time I wanted to go away and give myself a kick start I had to get on a plane to get there so that’s why I decided to set it up in Ireland,” she explains.
“I wanted to create an inclusive space where people could feel comfortable and have the craic. The way I describe it is that it’s summer camp for adults. People come away for a week or a weekend and arrive home feeling totally refreshed and revived.”
Do not be fooled though; this is not an opportunity to spend a week meandering through the woods at a leisurely pace. Campers are there to push themselves into achieving their own light bulb moment.
“The whole ethos is that everyone can train together whether you are extremely fit or unfit. Everybody that comes to camp works to 100% of their ability and pushes themselves outside their own comfort zone.
"So, if I’m sitting beside you in class and I can do five press ups or sit-ups and you can do 55 that doesn’t matter. What’s important to us is that you’re working hard within your own abilities, and that’s what makes it different.”
While a week at Pure Results is pricey (a seven-day all-inclusive camp will cost €1,199), Thomas is adamant that it’s investing in yourself.
“We have had incredible stories from clients who have literally turned their lives around. I think because it’s an intense week where you go away and invest the money and time in yourself, you find out that actually you are capable of so much more than you ever dreamed. When you realise that it’s your head holding you back and not your body it gives you such freedom.”
Thomas is unbelievably passionate about encouraging people to challenge themselves – and it’s catching. “I think for me one of the biggest pleasures I get in life is seeing people succeed,” she maintains.
“I love pushing myself and putting myself in a place where I feel vaguely terrified at the prospect of trying something new. I’m an adrenalin junkie, a risk taker, and that’s where I like to be. On camp you can see people thinking about things a little differently and gaining confidence, seeing themselves challenging their own self belief. To me, that’s everything.”
Looking at her career trajectory, Pure Results appears to be a culmination of her work so far. Was something like this always on the cards for her? “I think I’ve always played this role in my broadcasting career, to a certain extent,” she muses. “Whether it was challenging people to travel further or off the beaten track in No Frontiers or supporting people who were terrified to take the stage for the first time in The Voice – this is what I love.”
Her role in the success in Operation Transformation has given her immense satisfaction, however humble. “Playing a small part in Operation Transformation, which gives people so much of their lives back over an eight week period, is an amazing experience and I feel so lucky to work in that space.”
So who supports Kathryn? She works closely with her sister Linda who seems to be the yin to her yang in the business.
Her trust in her sister and her team will allow Thomas to step back slightly from Pure Results this year, and help her regain some precious work/life balance. “Last year I was on site every day for every week but this year because we have increased our camps I am going to pull back to two or three days at each camp,” she says.
“I need to work more sensibly. I found it really hard to trust myself to delegate in the early stages and trust the team of amazing people I have hired. When you invest so much of your time and passion and dreams into something it’s really hard to let it go.”
With a wedding to plan and several projects in the works, there will be no let up for Thomas in the coming year. She is committed to a health regime, but is adamant that she is not a slave to healthy living. She adores exercise, and keeps to a varied routine.
“I have two dogs so I am out jogging with them three times a week and I will do one personal training session with Siobhan from BodyByrne Fitness and a session of pilates a week.”
She loves to cook, and Pádraig her fiancé is a restaurateur, so food is a huge part of their lives together. “I am somebody who is prone to putting on weight and I love my grub. I’m getting married to a restaurateur so our favourite thing to do is go for dinner. I eat fairly clean for five days and then really enjoy myself for the weekend. I am not a slave to it; I love food too much.”
Now that she is in her 30s, Kathryn Thomas is happy in her own skin, and it shows. “I have witnessed friends and family suffer with ill health, whether it be cancer or heart disease. I’ve seen a lot of my friends have children too and that’s put a whole new perspective on things for me. It has made me certain that it is about health, not about getting into the skinny jeans,” she clarifies.
“Do I have the perfect body? Not by a long shot, but I am really happy that I have my health. As women we are so hard on ourselves so these days I focus on how great my body feels when I exercise and then, when I go out for dinner I really enjoy it.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
