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Sheridan Smith ‘struggling to lose weight gained for The Moorside’

She bulked out to play Julie Bushby

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As we all know the amazing Sheridan Smith is a fabulous actress.

And when she throws herself into a role, she really does!

Speaking on the red carpet for the Olivier Awards, the celebrated actress has revealed that she has been finding it hard to shift the weight she put on for the critically acclaimed BBC drama The Moorside.

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In case you missed it, it was the amazing dramatised retelling of the disappearance of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews in 2008.

In it, Sheridan played Karen Matthew’s neighbour and supporter, Julie Bushby, and says that in preparation for the role she tried to get as close to the real person as possible.

“I put on some weight for The Moorside and I’ve still got a load, but I’m trying to lose it,” she explained.

“I wanted to get into the character and became very good friends with Julie.

“Julie is a lot taller than me so it was about bulking up.”

She added: “We spoke lots and I tried to get her accent, she’s an incredible woman and we still speak a lot.”

Sheridan turned up to the awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall looking foxy and with a big smiles.

But behind the smiles it’s not been an easy time for her of late.

Not only did she lose her father Colin to cancer, she also took some time out from the theatre to recover from stress.

Speaking to reporters, she said that the prestigious event was one of the first award bashes that she had attended without her father by her side.

“I’ve been to a few of these and I always brought my dad as my guest on my arm,” she admitted.

“So tonight I feel like he’s here with me and I’m just so excited to be part of it.”

Sadly, Sheridan lost out on the award for Best Actress in a Musical to Amber Riley for Dreamgirls.

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But it was better news for former popstar Billie Piper, who took home a Best Actress gong for her play Yerma, which was also named Best Revival.

But the big winner of the night was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which took home nine gongs from 11 nods.

The show won Best New Play, while Jamie Parker, who plays Harry, won Best Actor.


Christian Guiltenane
Freelance Writer

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