Hollyoaks actress Steph Waring has revealed that she was warned she would die unless she gained weight during her 25-year battle with anorexia. The 47-year-old, who plays Cindy Cunningham on the Channel 4 soap, said her eating disorder began when she was just 10 years old.
In a YouTube clip, Waring recalled being told at age 15 that she 'may as well get run over by a bus' because she was expected to die any day. At her lowest, she weighed under four stone and was rushed to a doctor. 'The doctor confirmed that I had anorexia and I did think finally a label,' she said. 'I rapidly wasted away. I had no friends and I was a shadow of my former self.'
Waring described herself as a 'chubby child' who was often called 'fat' by peers. Her fixation on weight loss also led to a dangerous exercise addiction, including working out three times daily and sprinting up and down stairs 100 times. She said she overcame her eating disorder six years ago and now shares body positivity content on Instagram.
Separately, Waring disclosed that she had her breast implants removed due to debilitating menopause symptoms. She entered perimenopause at 43 and experienced menopause at 45. In an Instagram post, she said she wanted to eliminate 'anything foreign' from her body to give herself 'a fighting chance of feeling like me again'.
