Coronation Street star Colson Smith looks almost unrecognisable from when he first set foot on the cobbles over a decade ago, having shifted a staggering 10 stone in the past three years.
The Celebrity Big Brother contestant’s incredible weight-loss journey has been anything but easy and he was bullied because of his shape since the age of 11.
From still seeing ‘that fat kid’ when looking in the mirror, to running in disguise in the middle of the night, Colson faced his fair share of challenges after deciding to shake up his lifestyle in lockdown 2020.
In a 2021 interview with The Mirror, the actor who portrays policeman Craig Tinker in the ITV soap, opened up about his food struggles, confessing he would ‘self-harm’ with food.
‘My routine (before) was very difficult as I kind of left my parents at 17 to live in Manchester, which was away from home,’ he told the publication.
Coronation Street star Colson Smith, 25, looks almost unrecognisable from when he first set foot on the cobbles having shifted a staggering 10 stone (pictured right in 2018, left in 2020)
In a 2021 interview, Colson confessed that he used the food as a form of ‘self-harm’ ordering Deliveroo nearly every night (pictured 2024)
‘And when everyone else was at uni, I’m sat on bloody Deliveroo every night. So I kind of had got myself into a really unhealthy position where food was a self-harm to me.
‘It was my comfort and I didn’t realise how much damage I was doing to myself with it.’
However at the tail end of 2019, Colson decided he wanted to ‘look after’ himself after years of feeling like ‘the odd one out’.
He even approached Coronation Street boss Iain MacLeod to see if his weight loss could be weaved into his character’s storyline on the show.
Although the star admitted lockdown could have been the ‘perfect excuse’ to pile the weight on, he said it had the opposite effect – forcing him to ‘stop and refocus’.
Colson made changes to his food and also started going to the gym and running – but this didn’t come without its challenges.
In a 2021 interview with Runner’s World the actor revealed he would often run in disguise at night with a ‘snoop and a cap on’ because he did not want to be seen.
But the Corrie star later shared that once he saw others in the same position as him, his ‘inhibitions’ began to wear off and his confidence grew.
‘You’re not doing it for anyone else, and no one else is going to do it for you. Once you have that idea in your head, you’re on to a winner,’ he said.
Colson confessed that he used to go running in disguise and only at night as he was too ’embarrassed’ over his size prior to his 10 stone weight loss (pictured left in 2019, right 2021)
The actor even approached Coronation Street bosses so that his appearance change could be incorporated into his character Craig Tinker (pictured at 11 in 2011)
Despite transforming his life, Colson confessed he will probably be battling with his body image for the ‘rest of his life’.
‘That fat kid is the kid that I’ve looked at every day in the mirror and I still see him now,’ he said in 2021.
‘But I’m not going to take a big pay cheque to hold up a pair of my old trousers. I want to tell the story my way.’
The actor also revealed he was bullied from a very young age, receiving his first bout of vile comments when he was just 11 years old.
Colson also said the majority of the trolling he would receive would be because of his appearance, ‘99.9 per cent of the time’.
He also shared that being the TV child star put ‘a target’ on him in school for both his job and his appearance, describing it as ‘the worst of both worlds’.
Despite the ‘buzz’ he would get from his runs, Colson more recently revealed that his relationship with food was a big challenge before embarking on his weight loss journey.
In a candid confession to housemate Sharon Osbourne, Colson revealed that amid his weight loss battle he used to starve himself and binge eat – before deciding to overhaul his lifestyle
He confessed to Sharon: ‘I used to drive to KFC and I used to order three meals. Then I would hate myself so I wouldn’t eat again for a day and a half’
Opening up to fellow Celebrity Big Brother housemate Sharon Osbourne, the avid-runner shared that he would often starve himself and binge eat junk food.
‘I lost weight when I was 18 through quite a strict diet and what I found was that I was gaining weight and then I’d try and diet again,’ Colson said.
‘I wouldn’t eat for a day and a half. I would just starve myself.’
‘Then I’d be that hungry…’ Colson began to say, before Sharon chimed in: ‘The floodgates would burst.’
Nodding in agreement, Colson confessed: ‘I used to drive to KFC and I used to order three meals.
‘Then I would hate myself so I wouldn’t eat again for a day and a half and it would be that for months and months and months.’
Praising his girlfriend for supporting him on his journey, he added: ‘I am glad that I’ve done what I’ve done the way I’ve done it, and I’ve the level of control that I got with it because I have a discipline and I also understand myself.’
CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER 2024: MEET THE LINEUP
SHARON OSBOURNE
AGE: 71
FAMOUS FOR: Being a member of the Osbourne family, married to rock legend husband Ozzy as well as being a judge on The X Factor.
GARY GOLDSMITH
AGE: 58
FAMOUS FOR: Being Kate Middleton’s ‘black sheep’ uncle.
EKIN-SU CULCULOGLU
AGE: 29
FAMOUS FOR: Winning Love Island in 2022
COLSON SMITH
AGE: 25
FAMOUS FOR: Playing Craig Tinker in Coronation Street
FERN BRITTON
AGE: 66
FAMOUS FOR: Nineties TV sensation, and acting as Phillip Schofield’s This Morning sidekick.
BRADLEY RICHES
AGE: 22
FAMOUS FOR: Starring in Netflix’s Heartstopper
MARISHA WALLACE
AGE: 38
FAMOUS FOR: Broadway actress and singer, with roles in Dreamgirls and Aladdin
LOUIS WALSH
AGE: 71
FAMOUS FOR: His stint as an X Factor judge following a prestigious career as a music manager to bands like Westlife and Boyzone.
DAVID POTTS
AGE: 30
FAMOUS FOR: Ibiza Weekender
ZEZE MILLZ
AGE: 35
FAMOUS FOR: Social media star
LAUREN SIMON
AGE: 47
FAMOUS FOR: The Real Housewives of Cheshire
LEVI ROOTS
AGE: 65
FAMOUS FOR: One of Dragons’s Den’s biggest success stories.
NIKITA KUZMIN
AGE: 26
FAMOUS FOR: Being a professional on Strictly Come Dancing
