Dawn French has opened up about gaining weight, explaining that she quite simply doesn’t ‘give a f**k’.
The Vicar Of Dibley actress, 62, chatted about her figure during an instalment of her Titting About podcast, alongside best pal Jennifer Saunders.
She recalled going on a diet ahead of an operation, on doctor’s orders – eventually dropping seven-and-a-half stone.
‘I’ve gone back to being an entire barrel but do you know what? I’m going to be 63 this year, I don’t give a f**k,’ she told her co-host. ‘I really don’t, so long as I can walk…
‘I’m not going to be stingy to myself anymore.’
Dawn also insisted that she has never ‘disliked’ anything about her body at any point – and refused to be forced to do so.
‘I never did dislike anything really about my body, even when I was very, very fat,’ she continued. ‘I refuse to be forced to dislike myself.
‘In fact, I used to get really angry when I did lose weight, of people going, “You look so well,” as if you looked awful before…
‘Rewarding you for managing it, which is not easy, I accept that.
‘But I didn’t want people to give me approval. It’s so patronising.’
Dawn spoke openly about her weight loss in 2014, explaining that she underwent keyhole surgery after a cancer scare.
She was advised by medical experts to lose weight before the hospital trip, otherwise she would have to endure an invasive operation.
Speaking at a performance of her 30 Million Minutes tour, the French and Saunders actress was adamant that the seven-and-a-half stone weight loss was simply for ‘practical’ reasons.
‘When I was due to have my hysterectomy the doc told me that if I could lose some weight before the op, they would be able to do it via keyhole, and I would recover in three weeks or so,’ she said.
‘Otherwise it would be big open surgery, and three months to recover. So, I set about dropping a few stone.
‘No magic wand, just tiny, joyless low-cal eating and lots more walking for weeks and weeks. It was grim.
‘I lost seven-and-a-half stone. I could have the keyhole surgery. Great. That’s all it was, practical.’
French & Saunders: Titting About is available to listen to now on Audible.
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