Charlie Brooks is best known for playing soap villain Janine Butcher in Eastenders, but since appearing on this year’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and making it into the final four, she’s fast becoming one of the UK’s favourite TV personalities.
During her time in the jungle, the 5”5 actress has shown off her svelte size 10 body in a number of revealing swimsuits and vest tops. So how has the 31-year-old mother-of-one kept in such great shape?
'On EastEnders I always shouted at cameramen not to zoom in on my double chins'
‘When I first started playing Janine in EastEnders, one TV critic said that I put the ‘fat’ in femme fatale!’ said Charlie.
‘I’m quite a confident person but, of course, remarks like that stung.’
In late 2008, the actress weighed 10st 9lbs and was a size 14. But after following a fitness and weight-loss plan Closer devised especially for her, Charlie managed to slim down to a size 10, weighing a svelte 9st 4lbs.
‘I was a confident person inside and boyfriends were always complimentary, especially about my bottom. But then I’d get the occasional ‘fat’ day, stare at my belly flopping over my jeans and wonder miserably why I couldn’t just be skinny. And on EastEnders I always shouted at cameramen to not to zoom in on my double chins’ the actress told Closer.
‘But, I started to cut out coffee, bread, potatoes and alcohol, choosing water instead. I also made lunch the biggest meal of the day, taking homemade soup, salads and pasta salads into work.
‘In the evenings I ate lots of fish and always filled up on vegetables first. The weight really dropped off. And if I did want a takeaway, I avoided the rice and did an extra half an hour on the treadmill. In time, I actually enjoyed changing my eating patterns. I started jogging around the studio during my breaks, whereas before I’d always had a nap or read a book. I got strange looks from the cast!
'If you ain’t sweating, it ain’t working – that’s my motto!’
‘I began losing about 2lbs a week. My bum got smaller and my waist and thighs narrowed. My boobs went down from a 36 D to a 34C, which was great. But better still, my face narrowed out, I began losing my double chin and suddenly I had collarbones! I began wearing little tops and I had so much energy. When my mates started calling me Kate Moss, I couldn’t help giggling.’
But, Charlie admits that she’s only human and can fall off the wagon, just as much as the rest of us!
'I started to cut out coffee, bread, potatoes and alcohol, choosing water instead'
‘I’m only human and I do binge. If I have a day when I’ve eaten a Mars bar and a Thai takeaway, it’s not the end of the world. I wake up the next day and tell myself it’s a new start.’
‘It’s easy to be tempted when there’s no food to hand. So now I’ve started to plan ahead. I chop up a load of veg, add a bit of stock and some spices, cook it all up and freeze it. Then I know I’ve always got some delicious, chunky soup to look forward to.’
On exercise, Charlie lives by the motto ‘if you aint sweating, it aint working!’
‘The longer the day goes on, the less likely it is I am going to exercise. So now, Kiki [Charlie’s daughter] and I both wake-up around 7am. I get up, put on my DVD and start the 45-minute routine before I’ve really had time to notice what I’m doing. I put everything into it, though. If you ain’t sweating, it ain’t working – that’s my motto!’