ELLE McPherson, Halle Berry, Pierce Brosnan, Madonna, Rene Zellweger, Jim Carey and Tom Hanks - it might sound like a Hollywood party guest list but these are in fact just some of the celebrities a Chepstow fitness trainer has worked with, writes Keith Fairbank.

Former Chepstow Comprehensive pupil Rich McLaughlin, now 30, worked at an exclusive gym in Kensington in London for three years, acting as personal fitness trainer to Guy Richie and Elle McPherson, among others. But now he has returned to his hometown to set up his own business, and work as a fitness coach for Bristol City FC.

Rich recalls: "I finished my A-levels in 1993 then went to Leeds University to study medicine. But after one semester I switched to sports science and physiology then became a trainer after I graduated.

"I worked at a private gym called Holmes' Place, with heated floors and a jacuzzi as big as St Pierre's swimming pool. Guy Richie was one of my clients at the time. He wanted a personal trainer and I helped him with upper body work for several months - he's a good bloke.

"And I trained Elle as well, but not for so long. She wanted someone to go away on the road with her but I had other clients I didn't want to leave. Also, she could have changed her mind and I'd be out of a job at any time."

He adds, with no regrets: "In the end one of the other trainers went off with her."

Rich adds: "Most of the time it was Members Only, but one day a man rang up to ask if the cast of Tomorrow Never Dies could come down while they were filming. The manager asked who was in it and when the film company replied "Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry", he said "Okay"."

However, two years ago Rich decided to return to Chepstow and set up his own mobile fitness company, the Body Firm. Around the same time Bristol City approached him and began employing him as a part time fitness coach.

Rich explains: "I just go along to Bristol when they need me, which isn't so much right now as they've lost seven games in a row and the new manager, Gary Johnson, is understandably more concerned with getting the team right.

The Free Press has signed up Rich for an exclusive new fitness column starting this week in our sports pages. Send your health or fitness queries to: chepstow@gwent-wales.co.uk