As a teenager, Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley weighed almost 15 stone. The stunning actress, who plays Eva Price in the ITV soap, slowly but surely took control of her weight, losing over five stone through hard work and dedication. Now a slim size 8, the actress has never felt more confident, and is now set to educate Britain on the myths surrounding fat on ITV's Fat: The Healthy Option?, which airs on Thursday night.
Catherine Tyldesley is set to educate the public on the myths surrounding fat
Talking exclusively to HELLO! Online, Catherine opened up about her weight-loss journey and her relationship with food, admitting: "At the end of the day, I'm just a normal person and I struggled with food and my weight."
Catherine, a proud mum to son Alfie, who she shares with husband Tom Pitfield, revealed that her self-confidence plummeted following her pregnancy. "When I had Alfie, I lost my confidence as well. I didn’t want to go back to the gym," she said. However, it was thanks to Tom, a personal trainer, who helped her get back into shape through moving: "I started to feel better and my confidence went up."
Catherine and husband Tom Pitfield
The talented actress is also keen to prove that losing weight doesn’t have to cost money: "I’ve had people in the past say to me, it’s alright for you, you’ve got money, you’ve got a personal trainer. But I’m like, no actually, I struggle as much as anybody else. I’ve been in a position with an extremely tight budget, but it’s about being savvy and knowing what you should and shouldn’t buy."
"And there have been plenty of times that I’ve not had a personal trainer or I can’t get to the gym, that’s the whole point of devising home workouts etc . People can absolutely relate to that – especially mums."
Catherine is now passionate about teaching others about healthy eating, starting with the misconceptions of fat. It is particularly important to Catherine that the next generation are educated, with the hope that this will help prevent eating disorders. "There were young girls that were so uneducated about fats, and so confused that they were simply removing it from their diet. We hear stories about relatively young people who are developing osteoporosis, eating disorders… and it’s purely because of lack of education, and that really where my passion lies is educating people" she said.
The soap star appears in Fat: The Healthy Option?
Superfoods, Catherine says, are also not all they seem. "There’s a lot of misconceptions about fat and what we should and shouldn’t be eating, and I think people are at that point – myself included – were you don’t know what’s good and what’s bad. Coconut oil, for example, I’ve been using that for the past few years and it’s been hailed as the new superfood, and you’ve got all these celebrities endorsing it. And now were finding out that actually, in moderation its fine, but actually it’s not that good for us," she informed.
Fat: The Healthy Option? Airs on ITV at 19:30 on Thursday 14 September
