'No More the Funny Big One': Daisy May Cooper Fears 10-Stone Weight Loss Will Cost Her Acting Roles
British comedy star Daisy May Cooper revealed fears that her 10-stone weight loss could damage her television acting career.
The 40-year-old actress and writer dropped from a size 24 to a size 10 between 2021 and 2024. Cooper adopted a strict ketogenic diet after experiencing severe physical symptoms, including chest pain and breathlessness.
Despite her physical recovery, the This Country creator stated she panicked over how casting directors would perceive her transformed appearance.
Confronting Comedy Typecasting and Casting Fears
Cooper expressed concern that shedding significant weight might remove her from consideration for comedic television roles.
'That made me really panic actually,' Cooper told The Independent. 'I thought, 'F**k. Is that going to affect me casting-wise?''
The actress worried that production teams would dismiss her because she no longer fit a specific physical archetype.
'Will I be scratched off people's lists when they go, 'She can't be the funny big one?'' Cooper said. 'It's so mad that as women we even have to think about that.'
She emphasised that female performers face persistent industry scrutiny regarding their appearance. 'There's also that thing where people are just shaming you for wanting to feel better and be healthy,' Cooper added.
Severe Health Scares Prompted Lifestyle Transformation
Cooper pursued dietary changes after experiencing physical distress that caused her to fear for her life.
At her heaviest, the entertainer wore a size 24 and struggled with basic physical mobility. She suffered recurring pains in her chest and left arm, alongside extreme breathlessness while climbing stairs.
'I thought, 'This is it. I'm going to f*****g die before my kids go to secondary school if I carry on like this,'' Cooper stated.
To address her declining health, Cooper transitioned to low-carbohydrate, high-fat meals between 2021 and 2024.
Movie Continuity Problems and Escaping Social Media Trolling
Her dramatic transformation created logistical hurdles for returning television productions.
Cooper has said that a This Country revival would be difficult because her appearance has changed significantly since the BBC sitcom ended in 2020, including her weight loss and lip fillers. 'We'd have to say that Kerry's had a tapeworm and been stung by a bee,' she told Radio Times.
Similar continuity challenges surfaced during production for the second series of BBC comedy Am I Being Unreasonable?.
'Series one is meant to be 30 seconds before series two, and in that 30 seconds I've lost about 10 stone and had my lips done,' Cooper explained on The Jonathan Ross Show.
Off camera, intense public scrutiny forced Cooper to abandon personal smartphone use entirely. Her fiancé Anthony Huggins now handles her Instagram account and administrative correspondence to shield her from abusive online commentary.
'People are so f*****g horrible and mean and say such horrible things, I just can't even go near it,' Cooper admitted.
How High-Fat Keto Diet Promotes Weight Loss
Cooper achieved her physical transformation by adopting a ketogenic diet, an eating pattern that drastically restricts carbohydrate intake.
The regimen limits total daily carbohydrates to under 50 grams while deriving 70 to 80 percent of daily calories from fat. When dietary glucose drops, the liver metabolises stored fat into ketone bodies, inducing a metabolic state called ketosis.
The ketogenic diet was developed in the 1920s as a treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy, particularly in children. Although research has examined its effects on appetite and metabolic hormones, these effects should not be presented as a guaranteed outcome of following the diet.
Research suggests ketogenic diets may improve short-term weight loss and blood glucose control in some people, particularly those with type 2 diabetes. However, evidence for improvements in blood pressure is inconsistent, and long-term cardiovascular effects remain uncertain.
Ketogenic diets can cause side effects such as fatigue and digestive problems, while restrictive food choices may increase the risk of nutritional deficiencies. Cooper has also said she developed kidney stones while following a diet heavily based on meat and cheese and would not recommend the diet to others.