Tamzin Outhwaite is concerned by how many actresses are obsessed with their weight.
The ‘New Tricks’ star has stopped worrying about what she eats and is much happier now but she is alarmed that lots of her peers seem to live by the mantra "eating is cheating".
In an interview with Radio Times magazine, she said: "I know actors who actually say ‘eating is cheating’ and it worries me. I don’t understand why you need to be skinny to play any character, unless it specifically says in the script that she’s a model or dying of consumption. And I’m too old to play a model. So I’ve stopped worrying about it, which makes me feel much freer.
"It’s weird that we’re living in an age where most women – especially those in the public eye – are on a continuous diet."
The former ‘EastEnders’ star, 43, is concerned with the effect society’s preoccupation with beauty and weight could have on her two young daughters, Florence and Marnie, her children with estranged husband Tom Ellis.
Tamzin even believes the message spread by the Disney Princess phenomenon – which includes characters such as Ariel, Cinderella and Rapunzel – is re-enforcing negative stereotypes for girls.
She said: "Look at all those Disney princesses with their big heads and tiny waists, all waiting to be rescued from their lives by men. That’s not the kind of role model I want for my girls."
Tamzin – who plays DCI Sacha Miller alongside Dennis Waterman and Nicholas Lyndhurst in BBC One show ‘New Tricks’ – insists she could have never been totally reliant on a man because she is too independent.
She explained: "I could never have been a full-time, stay-at-home mum, reliant on a man. I love hanging out with the kids and I love my job. And I’m hugely fortunate that I don’t have to choose between the two."
Tamzin Outhwaite worried by weight obsession
