SHE shot to fame in EastEnders playing a “common as muck” working-class mum from a council estate, who wore her heart on her sleeve and her clothes several sizes bigger.
But now, a year-and-a-half on from her final scenes , , 49, is seven stone lighter and loves wearing thong bikinis. Here, she tells us the truth about shedding so much weight so quickly and why she blames the soap for making her pile on the pounds.
Lorraine Stanley has completely changed her lifestyle and appearance since leaving EastEndersCredit: instagram
The 49-year-old feels more confident now she has shed the weightCredit: instagram
The actress played Karen Taylor in EastEnders from 2017 to 2024Credit: BBC
Fearing for her life and worried about her as the mother of a 10-year-old daughter, Lorraine tells us she had to do something to lose weight, and as a result, she can now chase after Nancy without getting out of breath.
She insists it had nothing to do with wanting to look better, telling us: “It’s not a vanity thing. For me, it’s a health thing. My mum’s had a heart bypass, my dad died of a heart attack, it’s in our family, and all the weight I was carrying was around my belly.”
She adds: “I was scared I was going to have a heart attack. And I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter, so it was time… I had to do something.”
Lorraine believes she got “really big” while playing Karen, and blames her paycheck for piling on the pounds.
“I went really big. I think I had too much ,” she says. “It’s better not working, because I haven’t got the money to eat out every day.”
She took drastic measures to get in shape – getting a , which she later admitted to fans after suddenly dropping some serious weight.
Although she loves her skinnier figure, Lorraine admits it isn’t as simple as it may seem, and she does have regrets.
She says: “I think, in hindsight, I wish I had just done it with , because ultimately, any time I’m not in a happy place, I could just start eating and I could put it back on.
“So I’ve had to change my whole mindset.”
Her dinner was also ruined because of how drastically her eating habits had changed.
‘It’s not a quick fix’
Lorraine is now forced to have a “kid’s meal, like a kid’s portion,” and could only eat “two roast potatoes instead of five or six”.
She explains how she can pick at various foods but can’t indulge like she used to, adding: “I just can’t eat a big plate of food.”
Not only has her appetite dwindled, but she lives in fear that she could put the weight back on because of how the sleeve, which is made by taking away 80% of your stomach and leaving the remaining 20%, can stretch.
She tells us: “You could literally put it back on.
“If I didn’t have a certain mindset, and you were a certain person, you could put it back on. You have to be completely committed, because you’re wasting 10 grand.
“There’s times I’m like, ‘Oh my god, have I eaten too much, have I stretched it?’ And you start to get paranoid. So you’ve got to work at it. It’s not a quick fix.”
But despite all that, Lorraine loves that she can now wear a bikini again.
Just months after saying “I do” to boyfriend of 12 years Mark Perez, Lorraine gushed about donning a thong bikini and feeling better than ever.
She says: “I haven’t worn a bikini for about 20 years. And I’m bowling around thinking I own the gaff.
“I’ve got a thong bikini that I wore on my honeymoon, and honestly, it felt great.
“I’m usually covering up, and really self-conscious, but no, I’m strutting about the place like I’m .”
The EastEnders star spent £10,000 on the weight loss procedureCredit: instagram
She says she got big on the BBC soap due to her paycheck and always eating outCredit: BBC
Lorraine recently married her boyfriend of 12 years Mark PerezCredit: instagram
She shares 10-year-old daughter with her now-husband MarkCredit: instagram
‘I became immune to fat jabs’
Before turning to a gastric sleeve, Lorraine did try another popular way to lose weight – but says it didn’t work for her.
On the cusp of gaining popularity in the UK, Lorraine was one of the first people to give a try.
“I did try it, like, I had my sleeve, three years February, and before that, wasn’t out, I was on Wegovy,” she admits.
Lorraine then reveals: “I got immune to it, so in the end, I was still eating and injecting. I was like, ‘What am I actually doing? I need something that’s gonna work forever’.”
She adds: “I lost two stone, I put it straight back on within, like, two months. So I was like, no, that’s not right.
“So I think the jabs, you know, each to their own, I’ve got friends, it’s life-changing for them. They look amazing. But I’ve got [other] friends that have just put it back on.
It’s better not working, because I haven’t got the money to eat out every day.
Lorraine Stanley on losing weight and keeping it off
“It may take a year, but you put it back on as soon as you stop taking it.”
Lorraine also opened up about struggling to find work after her departure.
When she was told her character was being written out of the soap, Lorraine had only just signed for another year and was devastated by the .
“It was kind of a shock,” she recalls, before comparing her axe to a split from a boyfriend.
“I was sad when I had to go. It was like a breakup. I was like, ‘Oh, oh my god.’ And now I’m sort of over it.”
But finding work since her soap departure has not been an easy, due to struggling with self-esteem and the ever-changing landscape of acting.
After leaving, Lorraine threw herself straight into panto before she turned to doing self-tape auditions for various roles.
What's the difference between a gastric band, bypass and sleeve?
WEIGHT loss surgery is a common way for overweight people to change their lifestyles and slim down.
Though not as popular since weight-loss injections such as came into play, these procedures are still popular.
There are three main forms of weight loss surgery, a gastric band, a gastric sleeve, and a gastric bypass.
But what are the differences between each of the procedures?
A gastric band is an inflatable band which is placed around the upper stomach, creating a small pouch, slowing food passage.
A gastric sleeve is where about 80% of the stomach is permanently removed, leaving a narrow, banana-shaped sleeve. It reduces hunger hormones and you require smaller food portions when eating.
A gastric bypass creates a small stomach pouch and re-routes the small intestine, bypassing much of it, which in turn reduces hunger and calorie absorption.
“I’d done a few [self-tapes]. Didn’t get anywhere, really didn’t like them, felt really self-conscious,” she confesses.
“And I said to my agent, ‘Look, I’m gonna have to pause the self-tapes, I don’t enjoy them, it’s soulless, you get a two-dimensional version of me, and I’m not comfortable doing them, and it was really disheartening’. So I stopped. I went on strike with myself.
“I was like, I protest, I’m not doing them.
“So I didn’t do them for a while, and obviously weren’t getting any .”
After speaking with her pal Paul Andrew Williams, who she did the to Brighton with, she decided to give them another go.
“So I’m doing them again, I’m getting better, hopefully something will come up.”
While finding the right work may be hard at the moment, Lorraine is finally happy with her appearance, and things are looking up for the star, who told us she will be focusing on new projects at the start of 2026.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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