SPEAKING OUT Coronation Street star says telly bosses branded her ‘too fat and disabled’ for TV
A CORONATION Street star revealed telly bosses branded her ‘too fat and disabled’ for TV.
The actress opened up about her experience while speaking in a recent interview.
Denise Black, 67, appeared on the ITV soap between 1992 and 1997 – returning briefly in 2007 and 2017.
She portrayed hairdresser Denise Osbourne, whose relationship with Ken Barlow (William Roache) resulted in their son Daniel (Rob Mallard).
Denise was born with a condition affecting the muscles in her right arm – thereby causing her fingers to cross over each other.
Speaking on Kaye Adams‘ How To Be 60 podcast, the star opened up about being rejected by some companies under shocking circumstances.
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She shared: “I’m not going to name the TV companies, but I’ve been told I’m too fat for television, I’m too disabled for television.
“All this kind of – ‘you’ve got to fit in and you don’t fit.’
“My experience of being a woman was a lack of self-esteem, a lack of certainty that I was right, a desire to please, to look good, to feel very chastened when people pointed out things that were wrong with me.”
Denise added: “I’ve been told several times, by agents and television companies and photographers,’ you’ve got a lovely face; it’s a shame about your body.’
“It lowers your self-esteem. I’m a great one for ‘love people as they are.’”
Aside from Coronation Street, Denise has also appeared in fellow ITV soap Emmerdale.
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Joining the soap in 2013, she arrived as the adoptive grandmother of Kyle Wyatt – the son of Amy Wyatt and Cain Dingle.
She eventually returned to the village with Kyle as he began to know his biological relatives with Joanie beginning an affair with Cain’s dad, Zak.
She was the reason for Zak and Lisa’s divorce with Joanie going on to marry Zak soon after breaking up his marriage.
Joanie later dropped dead when she passed away from a heart attack in 2017.
Earlier this month, it was revealed Denise had signed up to BBC drama Waterloo Road.
Denise plays Mo McManus and finds herself caught up in a street showdown with police.
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Fans have been able to see Denise in action as Mo during the sixth episode of the latest series.
Mo is connected to Liam Scholes’ character Noel.
