Coronation Street's Colson Smith has opened up about a poignant storyline that was scrapped due to the pandemic.
The ITV soap is renowned for its compelling and challenging plots, yet Colson has disclosed that a particular narrative focusing on his character's weight issues and his own real-life weight loss journey was shelved amidst COVID-19 disruptions.
Colson, who joined the show years ago as the diligent police officer Craig Tinker, became integral to the gripping 'who killed Joel' mystery, aiding Kit in the hunt for the culprit, which ultimately turned out to be Lauren.
In a candid TikTok video, Colson shared his motivations behind his weight loss and the methods he employed. Having shed an astonishing 10 stone, he has been frank about the personal transformations he underwent, detailing his past struggles with weight and self-image, reports Lancs Live.
"I had to lose weight. I was on dodgy grounds. I didn't realise how big I was, and I don't think you do. But I was like 24 stone before the] COVID pandemic. I was so unhealthy. I had this relationship with food where I would do this restrictive eating cycle. I would eat loads of food and hate myself for it, so I would then punish myself by not eating," he confided to his followers.
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"Then I would get so hungry and emotional about how I hadn't eaten that I would then go and binge again. I would go on like that for the best part of a year. I kind of had a thought that there might be a way we could play a story with Craig where he had an eating disorder with his OCD. Obviously, slightly close to home, but I thought it would make for a really good story."
He went on to disclose his conversation with Coronation Street executives who were supportive of the storyline.
"I think it's important that stuff like that is told on TV. So I went to see the bosses at Corrie and asked: 'Could we play this story if I could lose the weight? And I'm telling you now, I could do it because I'm going to do it anyway.' We were all for it but COVID happened, which kiboshed the story," he revealed.
Colson also mentioned that he could have used the cancelled storyline as a "perfect excuse to stop everything that he had planned," but he remained committed to his weight loss and health journey and has made significant progress since.
*Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
