'Enders star doesn't mind 'sizeist' jokes

EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison doesn't mind that her character is mocked for her size. The actress, who has played Heather Trott on the BBC show since 2007, said 'sizeist' jibes are an everyday occurrence for many overweight people. The Sun quotes her as saying: "A lot of big women and men get that attitude - it's about how you deal with it. You have to portray it as long as you can redress the balance in some way at some point. "That didn't happen straight away and people said to me, ‘Oh my God, she's just the fat person they take the mickey out of'." She said the soap had gradually demonstrated that there is much more to her character than her weight, saying: "It's about taking away what Heather looks like, taking away the layers and finding out what she is like underneath. I think that's what EastEnders is doing, and that's a good thing." She also praised producers for including an overweight woman in the cast, commenting: "Hollyoaks is full of tiny blondes, but people like the fact Heather’s normal and we haven't seen that for a long time in soaps.”