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Hollyoak's Roxanne McKee: 'I'd hate people to think I'm perfect - of course I've got cellulite'

By Lara Kilner 27/06/2008

Celebs cover 29/06/08

Hollyoaks’ Roxanne McKee, 24, on her body hang-ups and secrets, why she doesn’t want to go under the knife, and hating diets…

If there’s one way to feel rubbish about your backside, your dinner-lady arms and the cellulite creeping down the back of your legs, it’s to spend the day with the official ‘Sexiest Girl In Soap’, clad in a bikini. Seriously, we wouldn’t recommend it.

Roxanne McKee, Louise Summers in Hollyoaks, is holed up at our swish Ibizan villa modelling this season’s swimwear, some of which is about as handy as a piece of dental floss when it comes to coverage.

There’s a lot of flesh on show, and there’s no denying the 24-year-old actress is a slender sort, with a teeny-tiny waist and not a hint of bingo player’s arm or tangerine-peel skin (‘The girls at work say, "Oh look, you don’t have cellulite", but it depends on the light. In certain lights, of course I do’). She doesn’t. But she also doesn’t wear size zero clothes. Roxanne is one of many famous faces to be criticised for her thin frame of late – one report even suggested she was a very skinny 7st 4lbs.

‘I don’t know where that came from,’ says Roxanne, who actually wears a size 6-8. ‘I’m very healthy, and I’m not a size zero. That would be underweight, and I’m quite athletic. I just want to promote a healthy body image and be a good role model – I’m in a show that a lot of 16-year-olds watch.’

Roxanne says she wouldn’t change a thing about how she looks, and her talk is peppered with references about how we should all love ourselves as we are, celebrate the fact we’re all different, embrace our curves, etc, etc.

That’s easy to say when you’re the owner of a Hollyoaks-approved body. Still, she means well. ‘I’d hate people to think I’m saying I’m perfect, but I don’t want to be anything I’m not, and I don’t want curvy girls to feel they should be anything they’re not either,’ she says, chowing down on a big hunk of cheese and bread (yep, she eats!). ‘Other girls shouldn’t feel like they have to be a size 8, and I shouldn’t feel like I have to be a size 12. Why do we all have to be labelled curvy girls or skinny girls, why can’t we just be girls?’ Hear, hear.

Are you one of those lucky, natural skinnies, or do you have to work at it?

I am naturally slim. I eat like a pig, but I do try to eat healthily. I don’t eat KFC every day, although I do have takeaways a couple of times a week. I eat lots of cheese and bread and I love chocolate, but I don’t eat a lot of processed food. I don’t deny myself anything, it’s silly. You only live once.

What do you eat in a typical day then?

We start work really early, so often I’ll have an omelette with cheese and baby spinach before I leave home, then eat porridge with berries, raisins and sunflower seeds while I’m in make-up. At lunchtime I’ll usually have a jacket potato with cheese and tuna and some salad. Then I always crave something sweet, so I’ll have some chocolate. In the evenings I’ll have fish with vegetables and wild rice or sweet potatoes. I do snack if I’m at home, but when I’m on set I have certain times to eat, so I’ll cram as much into my body as I possibly can. It’s the worst thing when you’re filming if you’re hungry – when people’s stomach’s are rumbling you can hear it on tape. Honestly, it happens a lot and we have to get fed biscuits.

Most people wouldn’t imagine girls from Hollyoaks ever eating biscuits…

It’s not like that. From the outside, people think being on Hollyoaks is all about how you look, but from the inside, you’d be surprised how normal-looking most of the girls are. We’ve got girls of all different sizes, which is good.

Do you think you’ll ever succumb to the surgeon’s knife?

It’s not something I want, but ask me again when I’m 60. I think we should encourage people to love who they are, but if they feel they need to change something, I can’t judge them.

But pressure to look a certain way must be immense on a show like Hollyoaks…

I think a lot of people feel pressure because we’re in the public eye, yes. But equally, we’re actors not models. I understand with models, but if I go to an audition and I act my socks off and I don’t get the part because they want someone who is a D cup and I’m a B cup, then, well, it’s not about the acting, is it?

Do you ever comfort eat?

I eat when I’m bored. If I’m at home, sat around, I start eating something, then I can’t stop until it’s all gone. I don’t have very good self-control. I really love crisps. I could eat a big bag of Kettle Chips all in one go.

Do you ever do any faddy diets?

God, no. I don’t detox – your liver detoxes your body naturally, so I don’t understand the idea of detox, and I’ve never done faddy diets. I wouldn’t be happy doing them.

Are you a fitness freak?

I like exercise that isn’t necessarily formal exercise – the gym is boring. When I go to the beach I’ll go surfing. I started two years ago and I wouldn’t say I’m good, but I do love it, it’s really good exercise. I walk my dog Alfie a lot too – he’s only a puppy and I run after him all the time. I’m a really busy person, I don’t do much sitting around. If I sat around I’d put on weight, definitely.

Roxanne’s top tips for being a beach babe

• ‘Start body brushing. It’s just the best thing, it really works. It stimulates circulation, and my skin always looks so rosy afterwards – it takes away any dullness. I do it on my arms as well as my legs, and if you do it really vigorously it makes your arms ache, so I think it probably helps to tone them up too.’

• ‘In the run-up to a holiday, I always try to up my exercise. I’ve got this little book with lots of 15-minute workouts, so I try to do plenty of those beforehand to keep toned.’

• ‘Fake tan always makes me feel better, so I slap some on a few days before wearing a bikini. I love Fake Bake, and you can’t go wrong with the old classic St Tropez.’

• ‘I always wear a high factor sunscreen on my face – my mum instilled in me the importance of wearing it from when I was young. Then I use factor 15 on my body. I’ve burnt my shoulders a few times, but never, ever my face.’

• ‘I never bother with make-up on the beach. I don’t like foundation anyway – it’s like slapping mud all over your face – and you don’t want to lie there sweating, with mascara running down your face. Painted toenails are totally essential, though.’

You’ve been dating club owner Gary Sewell for two years. Does the attention you get from other men bother him?

He never really says much about it, to be honest. He’s OK with all the attention, he’s not the jealous type.

Do you get chatted up a lot?

I get a lot of people chatting to me, but if they’re chatting me up I haven’t actually realised.

You must get some filthy fan mail.

Somebody did send fan mail to my house once, which was a bit scary, but I haven’t had anything too saucy. The Hollyoaks boys get sent knickers all the time. I haven’t had any marriage proposals yet – I’m alright without them, thanks.

Your Hollyoaks character Louise has turned into a wrong ’un. That must be fun to play…

Louise is going to go very bad soon, even more than she already is. I much prefer being evil. If I’m angry, I can get it all out of my system on-set and get away with behaving in a way I’d never be able to get away with in real life.

Rumour has it you’re quitting the show…

Well, I don’t think I’ll be there when I’m an old lady, but I’m contracted for a while yet. I’m still enjoying it. I will leave at some stage, though – my family and my home is in London.

Don’t you worry that having done lad mags and being a ‘Hollyoaks girl’ will stop you getting good parts when you do leave?

I just try to think positive. I want to do a period drama – I’d love to be in a bonnet and a big flouncy dress – and I’d like to do a play, because I’ve never done one before. And a film.

You have a degree in politics. Are people surprised when they hear that?

People are always a bit shocked. It’s a weird concept to them that someone from Hollyoaks would have a degree. But I’d wanted to act since I was about eight, ever since I saw LA Law. I remember thinking I’d become a lawyer, but then I thought if I acted, I could be a lawyer on the TV instead, which would be much more fun.

What do your uni mates make of the fact you’re in Hollyoaks?

They think it’s funny. We used to sit there watching it on a Sunday morning, so it’s very odd that I’m in it now. A lot of them work for insurance firms and things like that, so it’s a bit different. It probably seems a bit trivial, but, hey ho, I’m loving it.

Hollyoaks, C4, weeknights, 6.30pm

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Bikini top, £14,bottoms, £16 both Floozie by Frost French at Debenhams.

_{Roxanne stayed at the HOTEL LA VENTANA in Ibiza Town. Rooms start from 100 Euros per night: www.navilaibiza@yahoo.es, tel 00 34 971 39 05 73}

International Villas offer the most desirable villas in Ibiza, together with a complimentary concierge service: www.internationalvillas.net/00 44 1799 516971/info@internationalvillas.net

Icon Ibiza is a luxury VIP service that offers solutions to your holiday needs, from luxury apartments, chauffeur-driven Hummers, to yachts, and VIP tables at Ibiza’s clubs and restaurants: www.iconibiza.com

Words: Lara Kilner. Fashion: Charlotte Adsett, assisted by Carly Stevens. Photography: Vincent Dolman.

Hair and make-up: Luella using MAC Pro and Sebastian Haircare. Pictures: Retna Celebs. With thanks to 365-productions.com