Soap star Letitia Dean showed off the results of her recent weight loss as she partied at the Inside Soap Awards on Monday night.
The Sharon Mitchell actress donned sleek black dress as she joined her EastEnders co-stars at the glitzy showbiz bash. The 57-year-old was seen leaving the awards ceremony hand-in-hand with a friend, all smiles following the BBC soap's successful night.
Letitia, who appeared on EastEnders on-off since 1985, beamed as she took several photos with her colleagues on the red carpet after bagging the Best Showstopper Award. The soap bagged the honour thanks to its Christmas Day edition, which saw Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) kill Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) and kick off the ongoing murder conspiracy of 'The Six'.
This isn't the first time Letitia has recently turned heads with her new look thanks to dropping four dress sizes in four months. Letitia has been candid about her struggles with body image and fluctuating weight over the years, and in 2022 she disclosed how she had been the target of harsh online trolls.
"I had quite a lot of horrible things said about me. 'She's too fat, the other actors complain they can't fit on the same set with her', she revealed on the spin-off show Secrets from the Square. The actress was one of the original cast members when the show first aired, being only 17 at the time.
Letitia has faced relentless criticism over her body image since a young age - to such an extent that it damaged her self-esteem and led to her undergoing a breast reduction as a teenager. While there were also health-related reasons for her decision to have surgery, Letitia confessed that nasty comments played a part in her choice.
In a candid chat with Hello! magazine back in October 2001, the star opened up about her personal struggles, saying: "Backache had a lot to do with that decision too," and revealing the insecurities she faced: "But I was a lot less secure about myself and there was a lot of focus on how I looked. " She later admitted to feeling the pressure of public scrutiny, noting: "Occasionally, the attention on my appearance still bothers me - it bothers all women, doesn't it? - but I have those things in perspective nowadays."
After leaving her role as Sharon in the soap between 2001-2006, Letitia shimmied her way onto the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor in 2007, teaming up with dancer Darren Bennett and ultimately clinching fourth place. The BBC star confessed to Closer that taking part in the series inspired her weight loss.
"It started with Strictly Come Dancing because I felt great by the end of the show and the live tour," the soap legend admitted. "But the main reason I wanted to do something about my figure was that I was so sick of extreme dieting and my weight yo-yoing. I just woke up one morning, and I'd had enough. For years and years - as long as I can remember - my weight had yo-yoed up and down. I'd go on fad diets like Atkins or I'd only eat eggs."
Despite quickly dropping weight on these diets, as she claimed to be able to "lose a stone in a couple of weeks", the result was never permanent, leading her to lament, "slip back into my old ways and put it all on again". Her transformation became evident when she appeared in the stage adaptation of High School Musical in 2008, where she astoundingly shed two stone, going from 10st 4lbs to a trim 8st 3lbs, and impressively dropping four dress sizes.
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