Lucy-Jo Hudson: 'Corrie made me gain weight'

Former Coronation Street star Lucy-Jo Hudson has revealed starring in the soap made her gain weight.

The 28-year-old actress - who played tearaway Katy Harris on Coronation Street between 2002 and 2005 - told Closer magazine she began comfort eating when she joined the show.

Lucy-Jo said: "In my first year [on the show] I put on a lot of weight. I'd never lived away from home and I was comfort eating. The attention I was getting made me feel uncomfortable.

"I felt self-conscious having my photo taken with my Corrie friends Tina O'Brien (Sarah-Louise Platt) and Nikki Sanderson (who played Candice Stowe) because they were both so tiny."

The Wild At Heart star has since lost two stone, slimming down from a size 14 to size eight, and her recent appearance on This Morning sparked a flurry of comments on Twitter about her svelte new figure.

She said: "It's all a bit strange really. I've been my current weight, about 8st, since my wedding (to Coronation Street star Alan Halsall) in 2009, but I've had a lot of attention in the past few weeks.

"I think it's something to do with the new pixie-style haircut I've had - it makes me look slimmer!"

Following advice from friends, Lucy-Jo turned to life coach Deborah Morgan for help before her wedding. "I've learned so much from Deborah about making the right food choices. Chocolate is still my biggest weakness, but now I'm much more confident than I was in the early Corrie days."