Former EastEnders star Maisie Smith has opened up about he insecurities she had about her own body – and how her stint on Strictly Come Dancing helped her accept herself.
The 20-year-old TV star was a contestant on Strictly last year where she was partnered with Gorka Marquez and ended in second place behind Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse.
The 2021 season of the dance competition reached it’s own thrilling conclusion on Saturday night where EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis won alongside her dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
Maisie said watching her former co-star win the show brought back memories of her own time on Strictly.
Speaking to Fabulous magazine, Maisie said: “Strictly was a game-changer for me. I’ve always hated my legs and my cellulite. When I was at school, I was the only one who had it. When I went to parties I wouldn’t get my legs out. I would wear trousers all summer.
“It wasn’t until I did Strictly last year and they literally said: ‘You have got to wear a leotard.’ I was shoved in the deep end and it helped me, because I completely faced my fears straight on.”
Maisie went on to reveal she related to her character, Tiffany Butcher’s, plot line in EastEnders where she dabbled with lip-fillers as she was insecure about her looks.
Addressing the scenes, Maisie said: “I feel pressure all the time. As a teenage girl heavily active on social media, I’ve definitely felt the same [as Tiffany]. I’ve experienced a lot of body-image hatred – not from anyone else, but from me. I put a lot of pressure on myself to look a certain way…
“I enjoyed that story line, because I completely related to it. I have felt that exact way before, so it was nice to address it. You can think someone’s beautiful, but they don’t see it.
Last week, Maisie bid farewell to EastEnders having quit the show – which she joined when she was just seven-years-old – earlier this year with her final scenes airing on the BBC.
Highlighting the end of her Albert Square era, Maisie wrote on Instagram last Tuesday: "Wow. Eastenders you have been a dream. Lotta tears, lotta laughs and a whole lotta love.
"Episode 685 complete. Farewell Tiffany Butcher-Baker."
Maisie had previously explained that she became very emotional filming one of her final scenes with co-star Shona McGarty.
She said: "Shona and I literally cried the whole way through and after, we got so emotional.
"We’ve said goodbye on the show before the first time round like six or seven years ago, but it was even harder this time round because we’ve built such a lovely sister bond.
"It was a sad couple of weeks because we film out of order so I had my last scenes with people spread across a month.
"It was sad with everyone but Shona I’ve known since I was literally a baby where she would carry me on her hip, so that for me was a really hard moment."