{"id":257927,"date":"2025-12-30T11:22:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T11:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/257927\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T11:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T11:22:13","slug":"kym-marsh-says-she-felt-ashamed-after-being-called-fat-by-nigel-lythgoe-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/257927\/","title":{"rendered":"Kym Marsh says she felt \u2018ashamed\u2019 after being called fat by Nigel Lythgoe on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh<\/strong> has said she felt \u201chumiliated and ashamed\u201d after being called fat by TV producer Nigel Lythgoe<\/strong> on the reality show Popstars.<\/p>\n

The English actress, 49, best known for playing Michelle Connor on the ITV soap, shot to fame as part of the band Hear\u2019Say, which was formed on the music competition series in 2001.<\/p>\n

A clip from her time on the show has since resurfaced showing producer and judge Lythgoe, who earned the nickname \u201cNasty Nigel\u201d because of his cutting remarks, telling Marsh that she needed to lose weight ahead of a big performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Kym Marsh on the cover of Prima Magazine\u2019s February issue (Prima UK \/ Nicky Johnston\/PA)<\/p>\n

Speaking about her time on the show, Marsh told Prima Magazine: \u201cIt\u2019s the reason I\u2019m sitting here today, so I\u2019m very fortunate to have had that experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were so many things that happened at that time that you\u2019d never get away with today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s that famous scene where Nigel Lythgoe called me fat. I\u2019ve never been anywhere near massively overweight, but even if I was, how dare you? It really upset me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt humiliated and ashamed, and insecure about myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was chosen to be in Hear\u2019Say because of my talent, but then hearing a comment like that made me feel like an object, an item, not a human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group, which consisted of Marsh, Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan, released hit songs including Pure And Simple and The Way To Your Heart.<\/p>\n

They split up in 2002.<\/p>\n

Speaking about a possible Hear\u2019Say reunion, Marsh added: \u201cI always laugh and say \u2018never say never\u2019 about a Hear\u2019Say reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might pop up somewhere, just for a one-off performance down the line, to surprise everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think we are all just doing our own thing. We all still chat, which is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Kym Marsh told Prima Magazine that she says \u2018never say never\u2019 to a Hear\u2019Say reunion. Photo: Prima UK \/ Nicky Johnston\/PA.<\/p>\n

The English actress also revealed that she is \u201cnot horrified\u201d about turning 50 in June and that she wants to take care of herself more and \u201cprioritise\u201d her health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI\u2019m not horrified about turning 50. Isn\u2019t 50 the new 40?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited about it; I\u2019ve already said I\u2019m going to milk it for all it\u2019s worth! I\u2019ve decided that every month for the whole year, I\u2019m going to do something to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still more planning to do, but I don\u2019t plan to turn 50 quietly \u2013 half a century needs celebrating!<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s personal life or career, I feel like I\u2019ve learned something from every chapter of my life. This is a whole new one that\u2019s about to start, so it\u2019s good that I have a clean slate and I\u2019m in a nice place in my life, in every aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling good about it all. I want to take care of myself a bit more and prioritise my own health and wellbeing. Sometimes I can neglect myself and tend to focus a lot on other people. While I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing, I need to be able to take some time out for me and do things for me sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TVCelebrating her 50th birthday will be a year-long affair for Kym Marsh, who wants to celebrate every month. Photo: Ian West\/PA.<\/p>\n

The actress will soon star in the stage production of Single White Female in January, opening at Brighton\u2019s Theatre Royal before touring the UK and Ireland until June 13.<\/p>\n

Written by author, journalist and broadcaster Rebecca Reid, the play reimagines the 1992 psychological thriller of the same name, which was based on the novel SWF Seeks Same by John Lutz.<\/p>\n

Marsh said: \u201cI\u2019m so excited for Single White Female.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the world premiere of the show, so it\u2019s a massive deal because it\u2019s brand new and hasn\u2019t been done on stage before, so there aren\u2019t any expectations about what it will be.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you go into theatre jobs, someone\u2019s done that role before you and people have an idea of what they are going to see.<\/p>\n

\"PrideKym Marsh will star in the stage production of Single White Female. Photo: Ian West\/PA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Single White Female, no one\u2019s bringing expectations for what they\u2019ll see on stage. Some elements of the story are very different, but the heart of it remains the same. It is going to be \u2018on the edge of your seat\u2019 stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n

Marsh is also known for playing canteen worker Nicky Walters in the BBC soap Waterloo Road.<\/p>\n

The February 2026 issue of Prima is now on sale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh has said she felt \u201chumiliated and ashamed\u201d after being called fat by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[434,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-257927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115808262356956590","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}