EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has been getting ready to run the London Marathon, and looks slimmer than ever in recent photographs. The actress – who plays Sonia Fowler in the BBC One soap - has lost three stone since 2016 as a result of her balanced diet and regular exercise. Photos of the mother-of-two at the supermarket were published in The Sun earlier the week, and the star's face was noticibly thinner. Natalie is preparing to take part in the annual race to raise money for Dementia Revolution – a campaign in honour of EastEnders legend Barbara Windsor, who has Alzheimer's disease. Natalie will be joined by co-stars Jake Wood, Adam Woodyatt, Emma Barton, Jamie Borthwick, Tanya Franks and Kellie Shirley.
EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy is training for the London Marathon
In the past, Natalie has been open about her relationship with her weight, and even released a fitness DVD in 2009, called Then and Now. However the star later struggled with her body image and later admitted that she became obsessed with her weight and appearance. She told Heat magazine at the time: "I really wasn't well. I was bordering on having an eating disorder." She added: "There were nights I would go out for dinner and then I'd go home and take laxatives because I didn’t want the food inside me." Natalie later realised that she had taken her diet too far. "I looked too thin. I can honestly say I wasn’t happy then," she said.
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The actress has played Sonia since the age of ten
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Natalie has been playing Sonia since the age of ten, and returned to the show in 2014. Away from the Square, the actress enjoys a quiet family life with her cameraman fiancé Marc Humphreys and her two daughters. Natalie is the doting mum to six-year-old daughter Eliza, and two-year-old Joanie, who she welcomed in March 2017. Sharing the exciting news at the time, she took to Instagram to share a gorgeous family photo shortly after Joanie was born, captioning it: "@cameramarc and I introduce Joanie Elizabeth Cassidy-Humphreys… We are all so in love!"
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