Shayne Ward defiantly stood up for himself on Loose Women as he read out comments from online trolls who targeted his weight. The Coronation Street star, who is one of the seven male celebrities taking part in Loose Women's new Body Stories campaign, appeared on Monday's show to discuss his experience with online bullies, telling the panel: "I can laugh about the abuse because I have thick skin."
Shayne Ward spoke out against his Twitter trolls on Loose Women
Live from the Coronation Street set, Shayne, 32, responded to his negative reaction online by reading out some of the worst tweets he has recieved. These included: "Shayne Ward has the XXL factor," to which he simply replied: "Good one," and "Shayne Ward is getting fat," to which the soap star responded: "That's just called being content, happy and very much in love." While chatting to the panel, Shayne revealed that he's happier than ever with his weight.
Referring to his X Factor win back in 2005, the star said: "I mean I was 21 when I won the X Factor and now I'm 32, so of course my body's going to change." He added that it was important for him to be "cuddly" for his young daughter Willow. " I enjoy my food, and now that I'm a dad as well I have a more cuddly figure, and I'm quite happy about that for my little girl," he said.
Shayne features in Loose Women's new body confidence campaign
(Photo credit: Rankin/ Loose Women)
In Loose Women's latest campaign, Shayne bravely stripped down to his underwear to promote body confidence. The Corrie actor was joined by Strictly's Bruno Tonioli, 61, Frank Bruno, 55, Robbie Savage, 42, former footballer David Ginola, 50, This Morning's Dr Ranj, 38, and Judge Rinder, 39. The celebrities were captured on camera by acclaimed photographer Rankin in a bid to break the silence surrounding the body image pressures faced by men.
It comes as a new Loose Women survey revealed that 73 per cent of men said they don't talk to anyone about how they feel about their body and over a quarter of men can't name a body part that they like most. The study also found that 50 per cent of men worry about their weight, while 43 per cent said their weight affected their self-esteem. A further 57 per cent of men polled said they watch what they eat carefully, and 47 per cent said they won't let their partner touch their stomach.