Coronation Street star Melissa Johns has revealed that she used to “despise” her body and felt her disability was “draining” as she grew up.
The actress, who was born without a right hand and forearm, opened up about her years of feeling insecure.
And she explains it had much to do with a cruel remark when she was younger.
In a refreshingly honest interview with The Mirror, 27-year-old Melissa insists that having a disability doesn’t make anyone less beautiful – but it took her years to feel this way and accept her own body.
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Melissa, who plays Imogen Pascoe, told the newspaper: “When I was 19, a girl said something to me that stuck with me for years: ‘YOU have a boyfriend? Really? Well how does he feel about having to have sex with you?’
“It resulted in me despising my body and loathing the way I looked every time I saw myself in the mirror or in photos.”
She goes on to admit that “having my body because of my disability was draining”, adding: “I saw everyone else around me as this perfectly cut, sparkly little gem. And then there was me this uncut, grey stone that got in the way.”
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However, at 25 – shockingly just a few years ago – Melissa decided to change the way she felt about herself and Charlize Theron’s one-armed, kick-ass character in Mad Max helped!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaFD6nFgG9V/?taken-by=melissaclarej
She now accepts that her body is “unique” and “beautiful”.
Melissa is a disability campaigner and describes herself as “not a disabled actor but an actor with a disability”.
Before Corrie, she starred in Doctors and The Interceptor.
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