Former Hollyoaks star Stephanie Waring has delivered a powerful and deeply personal account of her 25-year battle with an eating disorder, revealing that medical professionals once warned her she could die from the condition. The 47-year-old actress, best known for her enduring role as Cindy Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap, has bravely shared her story in a new YouTube video series titled Breaking the Script.
A Lifelong Struggle with Food and Body Image
In a remarkably honest and moving video, Waring explains that her troubled relationship with food began when she was just ten years old. She describes becoming addicted to the validation she felt when people commented on her weight loss, a feeling that would ultimately fuel dangerous behaviours for decades to come.
The actress reveals the extreme measures she took, including forcing herself to run up and down stairs 100 times daily and committing to three rigorous exercise sessions each day. At her lowest point, Waring's weight plummeted to a life-threatening four stone.
The Doctor's Devastating Warning
The situation reached a critical juncture when Waring was fifteen years old. She recalls a doctor delivering the chilling assessment: "I may as well get run over by a bus because I was going to die any day." This stark prognosis came as she weighed under four stone and was living in constant fear.
"The doctor confirmed that I had anorexia and I did think finally a label," Waring explains. "I thought you know, it was finally acknowledged that something was wrong with me."
The Reality Behind the Glamour
Waring paints a vivid picture of the devastating impact the disorder had on her life and identity. "I rapidly wasted away. I had no friends and I was a shadow of my former self. My personality was non-existent," she confesses. "This is what people don't see when they glamourise thinness."
The actress, who is mother to daughters Mia and Lexi Grace, uses her platform to highlight the grim reality behind society's often romanticised view of extreme thinness, emphasising the profound personal cost of eating disorders.
Life After Hollyoaks
Waring's revelations come following her departure from Hollyoaks in 2024, part of a major cast exodus ahead of the show's significant revamp. Her character Cindy made a dramatic exit alongside brother Tom after confronting the truth about gangster Dave Williams' identity.
In a 2025 interview on the Secure The Insecure podcast, Waring reflected on the transition away from the soap that had been her professional home for nearly three decades. "I did feel the quiet from the family that I once knew on the show," she admitted. "No one's picking up the phone. No one's checking in. Everyone's just getting on with their life."
She elaborated on the nature of soap opera friendships, noting: "When you're in that Hollyoaks bubble and they call it a family – I feel you're only family when you're in it. You pour your heart out to these people, and then you go, and it's like it never happened." Waring maintains contact with only a few former colleagues from her time on the programme.
Through her Breaking the Script YouTube channel, Stephanie Waring continues to share her journey, offering both a cautionary tale and a message of hope to others struggling with similar challenges. Her candid discussion represents a significant contribution to public understanding of eating disorders and their long-term consequences.
