Lily AllenLily Allen has revealed her recent decision to lose weight was inspired by finding out she had a heart murmur.

The Smile star lost nearly 1½ stone (20lbs) in just six weeks after finding out about the murmur during a routinue check-up.

Insisting her weight loss wasn’t about becoming a “skinny minnie”, she told Grazia magazine recently: “I found out I had a heart murmur about three months ago. I had switched doctors and just went for a routine check-up, which is when they discovered it.”

“I have been asthmatic all my life, but this was really scary.”

The case of the murmur isn’t known and most are generally harmless but it sparked Lily into action anyway: “When they asked me how much exercise I did, I had to be honest and say hardly any.”

“I make sure I work out three times a week now, and I don’t hold back. It’s a hardcore routine and I’m usually in the gym for at least an hour-and-a-half.”

“I used to love nothing more than sitting in front of the telly with two packets of Ginger Nuts and two bags of milk bottle sweets. I’d devour the lot.”

“But this heart thing has made me cut back on that kind of c**p.”

“I was going pretty crazy back in the summer, drinking too much and partying loads. But now I don’t want to drink so much, I’ve cut back. I should also give up smoking, but haven’t quite managed that yet.”