Bulimia made me look like a heroin addict, says Michelle Collins

 
michelle collins has spoken of her battle with bulimia
16 March 2013
The Weekender

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Coronation Street star Michelle Collins has revealed she was mistaken for a heroin addict during her battle with the eating disorder bulimia.

Collins - who plays landlady Stella Price in the soap - was given a "wake-up call" early in her acting career when she was snubbed for a fashion commercial because the casting agent thought she was taking drugs.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, she revealed: "I went to auditions for a fashion commercial and they said they didn't think I was quite right for it because I wasn't 'upmarket' enough.

"Later that day my agent called to see if I was OK and told me that actually I had looked so awful the casters had thought I was a heroin addict and wanted to know if I was on drugs. That was the wake-up call I needed."

The 50-year-old actress admitted she used alcohol as a replacement for food and opened up about how she had the "body of a child".

She said: "It was a running joke with friends that I would order a salad without the oil and then drink copious amounts of alcohol like them. That was just what I did because I thought it had fewer calories than food ... I went for weeks without really eating any food. I'd starve all day then binge on anything I could get my hands on.

"I raided the fridge and cupboards then stuck my hands down my throat to feel empty again ... I had the body of a child, but when I looked in the mirror I still wanted to lose more."

Michelle, who now works with charity b-eat, admitted she has fears for her 16-year-old daughter Maia because of the pressure to look a certain way.

She said: "I see 15 and 16-year-old girls posting photos of themselves in their underwear on Twitter and Instagram because all their self-worth is in their looks.

"I'm scared for Maia and for all her friends. I want to grab them and say, 'Don't give in to the pressure'."

The actress has just filmed Coronation Street scenes which see her pub - The Rover's Return - go up in a fatal blaze.

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