Coronation Street's Colson Smith has revealed the secret behind his impressive weight loss.
The soap star is renowned for his role as PC Craig Tinker on the long-running ITV show. Colson first appeared on the show when he was 12 years old and quickly became one of the Cobbles' most beloved characters.
The 24-year-old spoke to the ECHO at the grand unveiling of the new Weatherfield Precinct set earlier this week. Colson recently wowed fans after he dropped 10 stone - and he told the ECHO about the moment he decided to completely overhaul his lifestyle.
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He said: "I made changes before the lockdown but when it hit, all work stopped and it's the first time ever that Corrie has actually stopped. I was in a flat in Media City and I went back to live with my parents.
"It was the first time since I was 12 years old that I didn't have a job and didn't have anything to do so I kind of thought to myself 'what's important to me' and 'what do I want from life'. That's kind of where I decided to put myself forward and start this fitness journey.
"I started running, looking after myself and taking more interest in it. Now it's just part of my life that I'm grateful that I've got because I definitely feel like I've changed for the better."
Colson showcased his new athletic frame with an inspiring performance on The Games earlier this year. The series sees celebrities compete against each other in Olympic style challenges and the actor went up against stars such as Ryan Thomas and Kevin Clifton.
Colson admitted the show was "tough", but said getting in shape for the gruelling physical challenge was not the difficult part. He added: "The fitness bit didn't concern me, but the how to get your leg over the hurdle and how to dive off a 5m metre diving board. That's the stuff that was getting me because you were learning skills that you never did and sports you never did."
Colson also shared some words of advice for how people can achieve their fitness goals. He said: "The advice that I'd give is just do it for yourself. It's one of those things that's purely personal. Everyone is different and every journey is different. If you're doing it for yourself and putting yourself first, that's the first step in the right direction and you've just got to enjoy the process."
The Coronation Street universe expanded this week as the show officially opened the new set for the Weatherfield Precinct. Filming will start in the new location next week - and Colson explained why Corrie is still so popular 62 years after it first premiered.
He said: "Corrie tells real life stories and it's so good at doing it. It literally is a look through the window of real people and real people can relate to it. That's why I'm so proud to be a part of it because we tell the truth, we do it the best we can and people enjoy it."
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