Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward reveals abuse he's received from body shamers

The actor has been promoting body confidence

Published 26th Sep 2017
Last updated 26th Sep 2017

Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward appeared on Loose Women this week to promote body confidence and revealed he had been subject to horrific fat shaming by online 'trolls'.

Broadcasting live from the set of the ITV soap, Shayne read out cruel comments he had received such as 'I watched Corrie tonight and how the hell did the fat one pull the two hotties' and 'Shayne Ward has the XXL factor'.

Shayne, who won The X Factor in 2005, admitted "I’ve never been one for the six pack. I enjoy my food and I like my cuddly figure for my little girl. You are pressured in this day and age, especially being on Corrie.

"You still get these trolls online giving abuse, which is why this campaign is just so important."

Watch the full interview here:

Shayne joins Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli, footballer-turned-pundit Robbie Savage, football legend David Ginola, This Morning medical expert Dr Ranj, Judge Rinder's Robert Rinder and boxing icon Frank Bruno for Loose Women's 'Body Stories' which looks to inspire men to talk about how they feel about their bodies and as a result feel body confident.

On the cobbles Shayne Ward's character Aidan Connor has been causing all sorts of chaos as he created a love triangle with best friends Maria Connor (played by Samia Longchambon) and Eva Price (played by Catherine Tyldesley). Matters got even more complicated when Eva found out and decided to fake a pregnancy to keep Aidan for herself, only to lose him on their wedding day when an angry Maria stormed in and exposed the truth. Watch the moment here:

We caught up with Samia Longchambon to talk about what will happen next on Coronation Street.

Samia told us, "Maria's kind of thrown the bomb and then watched it all blow up and then stepped back from it all, so it's more about how it affects Eva and Aidan."

So is there going to be a happy ending for Maria?

Samia doesn't think so! "I think she's one of those girls that's basically going to be unlucky in love forever and she's destined to be unlucky in love and never find a prince."

In real life Shayne's love life is thankfully a lot happier. He recently posted on Instagram that he had just enjoyed his first holiday with his partner, former Hollyoaks actress Sophie Austin, and their daughter Willow May Ward. He captioned a picture of three passports with 'First Family Holiday Completed ✅ in Portugal 🇵🇹 with my Girls @sophieaustin84 & Baba Willow May. 👶🏻 What a Beautiful 💕First experience for us all. Here's to the next one 🌎 #TheWardFamilyAdventure'.

Fans of Coronation Street were left saddened today to hear that Liz Dawn, who played soap favourite Vera Duckworth for 34 years, had passed away aged 77. Read the full story here.

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