Note: This article discusses eating disorders.
Coronation Street star Colson Smith has revealed that a proposed story for Craig Tinker was cancelled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith debuted as Craig on the ITV soap back in 2011, with the character having several high-profile storylines across his 13-year stint.
In a Q+A on TikTok, the actor spoke candidly about his weight loss journey when asked by a fan of the soap, sharing that bosses had considered creating a storyline in which Craig would tackle an eating disorder.
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“I had to [lose weight]. I was on dodgy grounds,” began Smith. “I didn’t realise how big I was, and I don’t think you do. But I was like 24 stone before [the] COVID [19 pandemic]. I was so unhealthy. I had this relationship with food where I would do this restrictive eating cycle.
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“I would eat loads of food and hate myself for it so I would then punish myself by not eating. Then I would get so hungry and emotional about how I hadn’t eaten that I would then go and binge again. I would go on like that for the best part of a year.
“I kind of had a thought that there might be a way we could play a story with Craig where he had an eating disorder with his OCD. Obviously, slightly close to home, but I thought it would make for a really good story, and I think it’s important that stuff like that is told on TV.
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“So I went to see the bosses at Corrie and asked: ‘Could we play this story if I could lose the weight? And I’m telling you now, I could do it because I’m going to do it anyway.’ We were all for it but COVID happened, which kiboshed the story.”
Smith, who recently finished in third place on Celebrity Big Brother, added that the scrapped storyline could have been the “perfect excuse to stop everything that [he] had planned”, but found that he grew to enjoy running after previously “hating” it.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Beat is a charity which raises awareness and understanding of eating disorders, and supports those affected by them. It has a one-to-one secure messaging service, and details of its phone helplines can be found here.
