Catherine Tyldesley will never forget director's fat-shaming remark
Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley will always remember being branded as the "fat funny one" by a director during an audition.
Catherine Tyldesley is haunted by a brutal fat-shaming comment made to her by a director.
The Coronation Street star has been candid about battling with her weight during her younger years and will never forget a horrible remark she got during an audition.
Speaking on the AgeLess podcast, Catherine said: "I remember going to an audition and the director saying to me, 'Cath, you're hilarious - you're always going to be the fat funny one. You're a character actress.'
"I loved comedy, but I also wanted to be a leading lady. That comment stayed with me."
Catherine - who has son Alfie, 10, and daughter Iris, three, with her husband Tom Pitfield - explained that she has now changed her attitude about weight loss to concentrate on being more healthy.
She said: "It's no longer about weight loss for me, it's about health.
"I want to be on this planet for as long as possible for my children. I want stamina. I want to feel strong."
Catherine recently reflected on the pressure she used to put on herself to shed the pounds when she was younger.
The 42-year-old actress told The Sun's Fabulous magazine: "I remember in my younger years, I felt a lot of pressure to look a certain way, as a lot of actresses did, and I would crash-diet.
"Whereas, now, I'm older and wiser, I know what my body needs and I respect it a lot more than I did then.
"I am very much at that point in life where I train hard, I eat well, I treat myself occasionally, I work hard - this is where I'm supposed to be.
"I'm not going to force my body to go in a different direction. I'm not going to live on diets, because that makes me miserable."
Catherine reprised her role as Eva Price on Coronation Street in October after seven years away from the ITV soap and explained that her return to Weatherfield "felt right" as she wanted to spend more time at home as she'd been away filming for nearly a year.
She told The Sun newspaper: "I’d been away for nine months. I feel really blessed to have carried on working and done some great things, but I remember my husband Tom saying to me: 'God, I hope your next job’s in Manchester, Cath' - and then we got this call [about the Coronation Street role].
"I’ve been asked before to come back but it didn’t work in the past because I had other projects. This time, I was like: 'This could work.'
"So it all came around at the right time. On a personal and professional level it felt right, and I’m so thrilled to be back. It’s just been gorgeous."
