Helen Flanagan: “I was obsessed with diets – now I celebrate my body”

She rates her boobs as “the best in the world” and Helen Flanagan clearly loves the rest of her body, judging by her selfie obsession.

HelenFlanagan

by Maddy Biddulph |
Published on

But it hasn’t always been this way. The actress has worked hard at improving her relationship with food and her self-esteem after battling an eating disorder in the past.

Helen tells Closer: “It’s nice to celebrate your body and what’s good about it. I really like my figure – curves are sexier than being stick thin - and I don’t see why I shouldn’t wear clothes that show it off."

“I used to worry if people criticised me, but now I think I’ll wear what makes me happy.”

These days Helen is a healthy size 8 – perfect for her 5ft 3in height. She oozes body confidence but as a teenager she struggled with low self-esteem, which resulted in erratic eating habits.

“When I was younger I was completely obsessed with dieting – this diet, that diet – and now I look back and think I was really stupid,” she admits.

“My Mum Julia used to do WeightWatchers and I didn’t want to be left out, but then I lost far too much weight and got really obsessed with it. I’d also make up my own diets, which were pretty bad – I’d do stupid stuff like eat salad for a day.

“If I could say one thing to my teenage self it would be: ‘you’ll be alright,’ because as you get older it does get easier. But I think you have to go through that kind of thing when you are younger – I think it makes you stronger.”

Helen’s diet changed when she read The No Diet Diet by Professor Ben Fletcher. “I gave up dieting four years ago,” she explains. “It’s not that I don’t worry about my body sometimes, but now I realise there’s a big world out there - there’s so much more to life than worrying about your weight.”

Despite looking amazing, Helen admits she doesn’t exercise regularly and puts her slender frame down to her active lifestyle. “I’m always racing around. I find it hard to chill out and I think that probably keeps me in shape – I’d feel guilty putting my feet up. I’m quite highly strung like that.”

There is a positive side to her busy lifestyle. “Obviously like most girls I like to watch my weight, but because I burn it off I don’t have to worry about what I eat,” says Helen.

“This morning for breakfast I had a roast chicken sandwich and a large Costa coffee Frappe – I love my coffee - and I eat sweets every day too, the sugar keeps me going.

“Life is too short not to have fun and you shouldn’t deny yourself anything that you want. I really can’t be bothered to think every night I’ve got to eat fish, vegetables and potatoes. That would be boring.”

Helen’s Vital stats

Age: 23

Height: 5ft 3

Weight: 8st 7lbs

Dress size: 8

Bra size: 32E

Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us