EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy admits fitness DVDs were 'not a good move'

Natalie Cassidy has admitted she regrets making a fitness DVD and says she does not worry now as much about her weight.

The former EastEnders actor and podcast host fronted a ‘Then & Now’ workout DVD in December 2007 where she said she lost 2.5 stone thanks to the exercises she did on screen. She later made a ‘perfect ten’ one in 2013 too.

But looking back, Natalietold Radio Times: “The DVD wasn’t a good move for me – I did it for the money. I’m now 42, and to be honest, I could be doing a bit more exercise at the moment, but I just can’t be bothered. I think, 'If this is the size I’m meant to be, then I need to be happy with that.’

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“I don’t overeat. I enjoy my food. I like a glass of wine. I like a packet of crisps, but you can’t do it every day. I think everything in moderation. If I go the other way and want to lose a lot of weight, my days aren’t as good.”

Natalie is currently on screen in ITV series Cooking With The Stars and also fronts her own podcast series.

She has now left EastEnders having played Sonia Fowler since 1993. But despite playing the role for so long, she insists it wasn’t a hard call to make.

She told said: “It was a really natural decision to make.

“Sometimes when you’re in something, you think that’s all there is, so when I had a break from EastEnders last year, I did The Masked Singer and a doc for Channel 4 [What’s the Big Deal: Britain’s Best Buys?].

"Unless you’re free, you’ll never know what’s out there. So I thought I’d like to say goodbye to Sonia and see what else is going on.”

Natalie has her autobiography Happy Days coming out in October which says it will “take her readers on a journey through the highs and lows and the changing seasons of life”. And she is also looking for more TV work.

She said: “I would love for a gritty or funny role to come up, but after being Sonia for such a long time, I’m really enjoying being myself.”

Away from TV, Natalie is married to cameraman Marc Humphreys and the pair have two daughters who love living in the countryside now they have moved away from London.

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