It's sad young girls dress like porn stars to impress men: Michelle Collins' fears for younger generation

It's sad young girls dress like porn stars to impress men: Michelle Collins' fears for younger generation

Plans: Michelle wants to grow old gracefully

FilmMagic

 

Michelle Collins has never shied away from playing strong female roles.

She shot to fame as the scheming Cindy Beale in EastEnders, and for the last two years she has played glamorous but tough landlady Stella Price in Coronation Street.

But while the actress might be caked in make-up and shoehorned into Lycra outfits to stand behind the bar at the Rovers Return, in real life, she’s shocked at how young girls dress these days.

“I believe in feminism and a woman using this as a tool but I feel women go too far with their looks,” says Michelle, 51.

“The porn-star look seems to be very popular at the moment and I’m like, ‘Why do women dress like that?’

"I’ve played roles where I’ve had to dress in an overtly sexy way, but otherwise I just do what I do for me and my plan is to grow old gracefully.

“What is even sadder is that younger and younger girls are having their boobs, teeth and lips done. It’s crazy. I just t hink it’s really sad.

“You think, ‘Why can’t young girls just be happy with what they’ve got?’ Go to the gym. Don’t start having surgery. It’s ridiculous.

“I believe in education and empowering yourself by being clever. It’s better to be a beautiful, intelligent woman.

“Why be a dumb woman who just looks OK but you can’t talk to her?

“I just wish there were a lot more women out there who would feel more confident and not worry so much about having to get their boobs out to impress blokes. I just find the whole thing really sad.”

And the star has little time for the glamorous young girls who shot to fame in the reality TV show TOWIE.

“Don’t even get me started on programmes like The Only Way Is Essex!” she exclaims.

“It’s saturated the market, hasn’t it? That sort of fake-tanned, big-boobed, big hair, false lips, false this, false that and, in the end, there’s nothing natural left.”

Independent: Michelle with daughter Malia

Wenn

As mum to 16-year-old daughter Maia, it’s clear why Michelle feels so passionately about the over-sexualisation of young women.

Raising Maia mainly on her own, after splitting with her Italian father Fabrizio Tassalini two years after her birth, Michelle has worked hard to make her realise the power of a good education and independence over looks.

“I’ve instilled in her how important education is and, yes, she is a beautiful young girl, but she’s also bright and she works really, really hard.

“I think that’s more important than bringing your kids up saying, ‘It’s all right, you can meet a rich guy and rely on them’.

"I’ve never done that in my entire life and I certainly wouldn’t want my daughter to do that.

“Obviously, I want her to find someone to settle down with who is lovely, but I think it’s important to be independent for as long as you can and to be financially independent so you don’t have to rely on anybo dy but yourself.”

After a stormy on-off relationship with Fabrizio, a two-year fling with cameraman Mark Waters, and an ultimately doomed engagement to Welsh media tycoon Parry Cockwell, Michelle is currently single.

“Finding the one and settling down is important but you know what?” she ponders. “At the moment I think if you don’t think about those things then they happen. I’m half in Manchester, half in London. I have a bit of a mad crazy life at the moment so it would have to be somebody who would fit in with that.

“I’m enjoying life right now and the most important thing at the moment is Maia and her getting through her GCSEs in May.

“That’s a bit stressful, but once we get through those I’ll start feeling a lot happier.”

On screen, her character Stella is enjoying a bit of cougar action, cavorting with buff brickie Jason Grimshaw, 22 years her junior, played by 28-year-old Ryan Thomas,.

After a shaky start, wit h soap fans slamming her northern accent, the Hackney-born star is approaching her second anniversary at the Rovers Return and is enjoying every minute of it. “I’m absolutely loving it,” she says.

Cougar: As Stella in Corrie with Jason

ITV

“I never envisaged I’d be in Corrie. If someone had told me years ago I’d have said, ‘You’re joking’, but right now it’s amazing and obviously the toy boy storyline is great fun.

“I’ve got loads of other good stuff coming up where my ex Karl gets very sinister and becomes totally obsessed with me, so it’s all good.”

Although she’s in great shape â€" she’s a size 10 â€" Michelle was less than happy about hitting the half-century mark. Yet rather than head for the nearest Botox clinic, she’s embracing her sixth decade with typical Collins resilience.

“I lead a healthy lifestyle now. I eat a lot of soya, a little bit of chicken and fish but it’s more or less a vegetarian diet. I do Pilates and power-walking with my dog.

“I’m aware that as someone on TV my appearance is quite important, but I’m more into toning than ripping these days. I’d rather look healthy and toned than too thin and gaunt,” she reveals.

< p>“Whether you’re in the business or not, every woman thinks about plastic surgery but I do think society embraces older women more these days.

“Obviously, I don’t want my roles to dry up as I get older but there are a lot of successful older actresses out there and I’m lucky in the sense that I play real people and real people get older.

“I’ve played lots of different roles and I’ve never really got roles because of how I looked anyway.

“If you were a beautiful actress who had always got jobs based on your looks that might be difficult but I’m more of a character actress.”

For that reason, she doesn’t overly worry about a few extra wrinkles or grey hairs.

“What’s the point? You’d end up driving yourself crazy. It’s silly. You can’t turn the clock back and however much you have your lips done or your face lifted you still look like an older woman who has had too much surgery.

“This whole lip thing. I rea lly don’t get that. I just hate it.”

Scheming: As Ian Beale's wife Cindy in EastEnders

BBC

But one step she has taken to keep the wrinkles at bay is quitting smoking after 35 years.

“I was never a 40-a-day smoker but I was a big social smoker. I was a binge-smoker at the weekend and then I’d feel bloody awful for a few days.

"I never smoked in front of Maia but she’s always hated smoking and as a parent you can’t carry on smoking and preach to your children about it.

“Then one of my relatives died of a smoking-related disease and my grandma in Italy died of emphysema.

"After a while you think, ‘This is silly’. I need to be healthy because of the lifestyle I lead,” she says.

“Apart from being terrible for your heart and lungs and decreasing your life expectancy by 10 years, smoking is bad for your skin. I just couldn’t think of any positives.”

She has tried every stop-smoking method available over the years, but puts her success this time down to willpower and her doctor.

“There are tons of meth ods out there â€" hypnotherapy, books â€" I’ve tried so many different things but maybe it wasn’t the right time.

"You’ve got to want to give up. You can’t go to your doctor and expect them to wave a magic wand.

“Smoking is a powerful physical and psychological addiction. If you see your doctor when you’re trying to give up rather than trying to do it on your own, you’re four times more likely to stop.

“I haven’t smoked for 18 months now and I’d like to say that I’ll never have another cigarette but you just don’t know, do you?

“Right now I feel a lot healthier than I did in my 30s and 40s when I was smoking heavily.

“I feel fitter, I look fresher and in the age of HD TV, actresses need all the help they can get with wrinkles!”

Even with her role in Corrie going well, Michelle always has one eye on the next job and she’s hoping that Maia’s hard work at school pays off for both of them.

“She loves drama but she’s also great at writing, so hopefully she’ll study English at university.

"I want her to be a writer so she can write me some parts and keep me in work in the future!” she laughs.

By Nick McGrath

 

* Michelle Collins is supporting a nationwide smoking cessation campaign by Pfizer Limited, called ‘Don’t Go Cold Turkey’.

The campaign aims to ensure that smokers who want to quit are aware of the options available to them from their healthcare professional.

Visit www.dgct.co.uk for more information and advice on quitting smoking.