‘i’m feeling great!’

Claire

After swapping Manchester’s cobbles for the Dancing on Ice rink, Claire Sweeney is giving fitness her all, admitting, ‘It feels good to be kicking off 2024 with a bang.’

And the weeks of hard training, says the Coronation Street actress, 52, have done wonders for her figure. ‘The [other] day the VT [person] who films me for Dancing on Ice said I’d lost weight and I was absolutely thrilled by that!’ she says. ‘When you get older, your body shape changes, nothing’s as slender as it used to be and I love my food so it’s a daily battle.’

Claire, who plays Cassie Plummer in the ITV soap, previously admitted that she ‘wanted to get a skater’s bum’ – and she’s certainly been putting in the work, spending two and a half hours on the ice every day with her professional partner Colin Grafton. ‘I’m just absolutely knackered every evening,’ she says. ‘My original intention was to come home after training and do some Pilates in the evening, but I can’t do that.

‘You’re in a constant squat position. Imagine spending two and a half hours in a squat! But it’s brilliant – I’m feeling great.’

GROWING CONFIDENCE

Claire, whose weight has famously yo-yoed over the years, has vowed to love her body now that she’s in her 50s. ‘When you get older it’s harder to shift the weight, but I’m learning to embrace my curves,’ she says. ‘I used to think, “Oh my thighs are big” and I wasn’t happy with the way I looked. It’s about learning to be kinder to yourself.’

Last year, Claire, who lives in London with her nine-year-old son Jaxon, confidently showed off her curves in a swimsuit while on a family holiday in Barbados. ‘I had the best time, ate everything I wanted. Let it all hang out on the beach thinking nobody was judging me. I’m not skinny… not perfect, but very REAL!’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘This is me having a bloody brilliant holiday! With a bit of flab and a few lumps and bumps.’

‘Taking back power is learning to say no to things, not feeling like you have to conform, not feeling like you have to please all the time,’ she said of her decision to post the pictures. ‘I think that’s just coming with age as well.’

WEIGHT WOES

The former Brookside star gained three stone while pregnant with her son, who she shares with ex Daniel Reilly. But a ‘blunt’ comment from a friend