EastEnders star Nitin Ganatra says racist bullying caused him to struggle with his weight.
The actor said he used food as a way of dealing with the bullying he suffered when he came to the UK from Kenya as a child.
As a result the EastEnders star was ‘probably obese by the time I was 12’.
Speaking on Thursday’s Loose Women, he said: ‘I was very big, I was probably obese by the time I was about 12, so then I went the other way when I went to university and I lost a lot of weight.
‘I studied as an actor in Italy and when I got to Italy they said, “We’ve never seen anyone as skinny as you, you need to eat”.
‘I think if you’e been bullied for your weight and your colour you find ways of coping, and food was a way.’
The 51-year-old currently plays Masood Ahmed on the BBC One soap, and his character recently went into business with Ian Beale.
Alongside Masood, his aunt and uncle Mariam and Arshad have joined the show as a long standing couple who act as foster parents.
Nitin is appearing alongside Les Dennis in the Danny Robbins play End Of The Pier this summer until 11 August.
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