Coronation Street actor Colson Smith who is best known for playing Craig Tinker in the ITV soap, has spoken candidly about the bullying and trolling he previously endured regarding his weight.

Colson, 22, who is a favourite amongst fans, expressed that he was bullied when he was younger for being "fat and ginger".

Due to the ongoing bullying and jibes, the actor turned to food for comfort which then became a form of self harm.

Sharing his experiences in his new short film, Bored of Being the Fat Kid, Colson explained: "I've never liked the way I look. I've never been happy and I've never been content in it and that's always been quite a challenge."

The Corrie star joined the cobbles when he was 11 years old. Reflecting on his childhood, he said: "The fact that I was fat and ginger made me stand out from everybody else.

"The reason I got bullied is because I was fat and I was ginger so I kind of just went with it and embraced it and decided 'if people want me to be the fat ginger kid I'll be the fat ginger kid.'"

He added: "And I kind of played that card for a while just trying to get on, which probably made the whole situation worse because my comfort in being bullied was food."

As a young lad, Colson's acting career started off fairly rapidly.

The star attended an after school drama group and had an agent two weeks later. Following on from this, Colson found himself on Britain's longest running soap opera six months later.

Though things were on an upward curve for Colson career-wise at the time, this is when the online abuse started.

"If you put in 'Craig Corrie Fat' there are literally thousands of tweets about how I look and I read ever single one of them from being 11 to being 22," he expressed.

At the age of 17, Colson went on a diet for the National Television Awards but purchased "two pasties and a Burger King" to eat on the train home.

"My first reward for losing weight was food," he explained. "I'd forgotten how to eat," he added.

The actor also admitted to eating excessively a day until he was unable to eat any more and described it as a "level of self harm I was doing to myself through food".

But things started to change for him at the age of 21, when he decided to hire a life coach.

The soap star also began to fall in love with running during the first lockdown last year and believes exercise and healthy eating are now part of his new lifestyle.

"I started to like myself and respect myself and I realised I deserved the respect," he said.

Many fans have praised Colson for the powerful film he made and have sent him warm wishes about it.

One fan said: "Thanks for making this, and proud of you for making it happen."

While another penned: "Thank you Colson for inspiring me that anybody can do it."

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