Duchess of York to return to UK as healthy eating campaigner » Health » 24dash.com

The Duchess of York said today she wants to return to Britain as a campaigner for healthy eating after spending 12 years living mostly in the United States.

Sarah Ferguson hopes to launch a UK media career with an appearance in a new TV documentary where she gives advice on battling obesity to a family living on benefits in Hull.

She plans to use her experiences to discuss tackling Britain's looming public health crisis with Government ministers.

The ITV1 programme, called Duchess in Hull, follows her from her apartment overlooking New York's Central Park to the deprived council estate where the Sargerson family lives.

The Duchess, who has battled with her own weight, helps them cut back on smoking, start exercising and budget to feed six people healthily on £80 a week.

She revealed today she has sub-let her US flat because she plans to spend "more and more" time at her home in Egham, Surrey.

Asked at a press screening of the documentary whether she planned to make more British TV programmes, she said: "I would love to follow up my word.

"My word has been to come back to Britain to support Britain's youth, to help them in the future with education.

"That's why I went to learn with the Sargerson family myself so I could be well-educated about what it's like and what life is like.

"I would love to do more work in this country to just share some of the knowledge that I have gleaned over the last 15 years - how I'm still standing really, and what do I do with my health and fitness regime.

"Not just that but how do I stand up in front of millions of people and talk about what it's like to go through the adversity of life and be smiling and be happy.

"I would love to share that, and if I can I would love to do it - and perhaps also support Britain. I love Britain."

The Duchess, who has been a spokeswoman for WeightWatchers in the US for more than a decade, said she returned to the UK on a "fact-finding mission" about obesity.

She said it was not her place to tell the Government what to do but she believes she can help ministers like Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Schools Secretary Ed Balls.

Talks about making the documentary began four years ago and the Duchess expressed worries about how it will be received when it is broadcast next week.

She said: "I could have stayed in America and stayed away.

"But actually my girls are here, I'm a British citizen, and I'm really glad that I've come back because I've met the Sargerson family."

She added: "I think I'm going to be here more and more now. It's lovely, I love coming back."

The programme opens with a sequence showing the Duchess going through her morning work-out in New York, which culminates in an ice bath.

She said she wished this section had been cut out, but the producers argued it was necessary to show "the real Sarah" and how she dealt with "real issues".

The Duchess travels to Hull, where she meets Tonia Sargerson, 47, who is unemployed with heart problems, and her husband Mick, 51, an ex-soldier who suffers from diabetes and has not worked for 15 years.

None of the family can remember who she is when she walks through the door, but they quickly build a close bond - although 14-year-old son Mikey suggests it is just a "publicity stunt".

Staying in a £40-a-night bed and breakfast near the Sargersons' council home, the Duchess advises them on how they can improve their health.

She says: "I think it's very sad when you talk to Tonia and she says, 'Oh, I've never had a healthy meal'.

"It's just a feeling that we really must try and keep going on this road to help people."

The Duchess accompanies them on a trip to budget store Netto, where she explains that she does not normally go to supermarkets.

Mrs Sargerson said it was a "fairy tale" to have the Duchess "listening to my problems and trying to help".

The Duchess said she became friends with the Sargersons during filming and has since invited them to visit her home in Britain to meet her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

The Duchess also hinted at the press screening that she would like to take an active role in tackling international crises.

:: Duchess In Hull will be broadcast on ITV1 in two parts on May 19 and 20.