Overweight stars should play nurses and midwives of TV instead of ‘size 6 actresses’ says Lisa Riley

Lisa Riley has called for more overweight people to play nurses and midwives on TV instead of ‘size 6 actresses’.

The former Emmerdale and Strictly Come Dancing star, who lost 12 stone in two years, insists there is still work to be done in improving TV representation of larger people. She said: ‘The TV industry is changing and people are more accepting of different body shapes on screen these days.

‘But I’d still love to see an overweight nurse or midwife on telly.

‘Because, trust me, when I spent time in hospital there was not a single size 6 nurse – and that is not what’s being portrayed in medical dramas.’

The 42-year-old Loose Women panellist (pictured), who had surgery to remove excess skin after shrinking from a size 28 to 12, said she has regrets when she looks at old TV clips of herself.

She told Radio Times: ‘I do wince when I look back at myself on TV. Every single garment they put on me in You’ve Been Framed! made me look like a giant Christmas tree.’

Miss Riley, who appears in new BBC1 drama Age Before Beauty, said she lost weight ‘the hard way’ through a strict exercise plan. She insisted: ‘I look in the mirror now and I feel proud – no slimming pills, no gastric band. There is no fat on me. I’m solid.’

She has two stone in two years ‘the hard way’ through a strict exercise plan