Ken Barlow’s new love interest Helen Lederer has revealed the drastic lengths she went to be thin. 

The Absolutely Fabulous actress, 69, who is set to appear on Coronation Street next week as Ken’s date Elspeth, admitted she took slimming pills for years and lived on a diet of 400 calories a day and wine. 

Helen saw her weight yo-yo from a size 10 to a size 16 throughout her career and said: ‘It was truly like I was living the Ab Fab life: I’m the muggins who’s really doing it.’ . 

‘I was no stranger to testing something out if I needed to lose weight, I didn’t care how I did it,’ the actress said in a new interview with The Sun. 

‘I would have phases of going on and off slimming pills for many years. When they worked, I thought they were great, but it wouldn’t be long before your heart was racing.

Ken Barlow’s new love interest Helen Lederer has revealed the drastic lengths she went to be thin

The actress, 69, who is set to appear on Coronation Street next week as Ken’s date Elspeth, admitted she took slimming pills for years and lived on a diet of 400 calories a day and wine

‘I remember there was a comedy series I did in Scotland and I don’t think I ate any food once while taking them, I just drank a lot of wine. Now I look back and think, “How?” But back then people just did this stuff and got on with it.

Helen said she turned to slimming pills as she never has had a ‘model figure’ and always wanted the perfect body. 

The actress said when she was at her skinniest she was ‘fed up’ and miserable’ and soon put the weight she had lost back on. 

Helen said the weight-loss jabs Ozempic and Wegovy  ‘sound like a dream come true’ and would have taken them had they been offered when she was younger.

The drugs are so widespread in Hollywood that the makers of the weight-loss drugs have launched a campaign pleading with influential people to stop using them for ‘vanity reasons’, which has led to shortages affecting those who genuinely need them. 

Now, Helen has embraced her figure and said of all the ‘crazy lengths’ she went to: ‘you just have to forget about it and get on with it’. 

Helen will hit the cobbles next week where she will take part in Ken’s dating storyline. 

‘I remember there was a comedy series I did in Scotland and I don’t think I ate any food once while taking them, I just drank a lot of wine’, she said (pictured in 2004) 

Helen saw her weight yo-yo from a size 10 to a size 16 throughout her career and said: ‘It was truly like I was living the Ab Fab life’ (pictured left in 1980s, right 2022) 

Helen (C) found fame in Ab Fab as Catorina, pictured with co-stars Joanna Lumley (L) and Harriet Thorpe (R)

Helen will hit the cobbles next week where she will take part in Ken’s dating storyline 

Known for once being the cobbles biggest lothario (Bill Roache) and desperate to prove he still can still woo the ladies at the age of 91, Ken embarks on speed dating. 

After being single for near a decade following the death of his beloved wife Deirdre  in 2015, he catches the eye of fellow dater Elspeth (played by Helen). 

Ken attends the speed dating event with ex-son in law Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) and leaves the Taxi firm owner gutted when, despite his advancing age,  manages to outdo him in the romance stakes. 

Speaking about the role Helen, who will appear in one Wednesday March 27, described her character as ‘forward and bold’.

She also admitted that one of the biggest draws to taking the part was the opportunity to act opposite Bill, who has appeared on the soap since it’s first episode in 1960.

Saying: ‘I had met him once before when I sat next to him at an event and I thought what a lovely man he was and so personable. So for me to be offered this brief role was a joy’.

And despite only appearing briefly Helen teased that Ken took Elspeth’s number during their scenes and she very well return to the soap should he call.

As well as playing Catriona in Ab Fab, the actress has also appeared in Hollyoaks, Celebrity Big Brother and  Agatha Christie’s Marple.