Kym Marsh defends Corrie co-star against cruel body-shaming trolls

Kym Marsh has proven she has her pals’ backs when it comes to nasty social media trolling.

The 41-year-old has given her support to Coronation Street co-star Shayne Ward, 32, after he candidly described being targeted by vile messages poking fun at his weight.

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Among the cruel jibes was one viewer who tweeted during a recent episode of the ITV soap: “I watched Corrie tonight and how the hell did the fat one pull the two hotties?'”

Well, Kym was NOT happy about that at all and used her weekly magazine column to air her feelings.

Writing in her OK! blog, the star said: “Shayne’s happy with the way he looks and he’s not fat, he’s just not the size he was before.

“There’s far too much trolling going on; you’re either too fat, too thin, too ugly – whatever!

“It’s bullying and I have no time for bullies, so well done to Shayne for loving his body and standing up for himself.”

She said she’s got ‘no time’ for bullying of any sort [Credit: FameFlynet]

Shayne found fame as the winner of X Factor’s second series back in 2005 but these days he’s best known as Corrie’s Aidan Connor.

He spoke about the trolling he’s received over his looks last month, as part of Loose Women’s new Body Stories campaign, designed to highlight the way men feel pressure over their appearance just like women do.

“I was 21 when I won The X Factor and my body’s changed – I’m 32,” he said.

Shayne’s smitten with actress girlfriend Sophie Austin [Credit: Instagram @shaynetward]

“I’ve never been one for the six pack. I enjoy my food and I like my cuddly figure for my little girl. You are pressured in this day and age, especially being on Corrie.

“You still get these trolls online giving abuse, which is why this campaign is just so important.

“If someone’s just going to comment on the fact that I’m a little bit bigger than I used to be, I’m 32, when I first joined the pop industry I was 21, so of course my body’s going to change after that amount of time.

“Being in the public eye can make you more conscious, without a shadow of a doubt, and that’s what’s great about this campaign.”

Shane took part in Loose Women’s new Body Stories campaign [Credit: ITV]

Shayne, who has a daughter with actress girlfriend Sophie Austin, added: “Hopefully this campaign will give men the confidence to talk about body confidence issues, because a lot of it is thrown away as banter; ‘Ah you’ve got a bit of a belly,’ ‘So have you mate.’

“And then it’s done, but actually, once that conversation stops and someone starts to talk about something else, you’re left with that, thinking, actually I do feel like I’ve put on a bit of weight.

“This campaign is going to be brilliant for that.”

Shayne joined a slew of famous men in stripping off for the campaign [Credit: Instagram @loosewomen]

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Shayne said he can usually laugh off any nasty comments he gets about his appearance – and during an interview on Loose Women in September, he proved that by reading some of the trolling tweets and adding his own comments.

He read: “‘Shayne Ward has the XXL factor’ – good one.

“‘Shanye Ward is getting fat’ – that’s just called being content, happy and very much in love.

“And the best one is ‘I watched Corrie tonight and how the hell did the fat one pull the two hotties?’ I’d say with ease.”

Go Shayne!