It’s been 15 years since Shaun Williamson has played Barry Evans in BBC One Soap EastEnders. The 53-year-old joined the soap in 1994, as Albert Square’s wheeler-dealer. This was the actor’s second role in the hit soap, following a brief role as a paramedic earlier in 1994. His character provided one of the most memorable screen deaths when he was pushed off a Scottish mountaintop by his murderous wife Janine, played by Charlie Brooks. In 2009, he stated that he had no regrets about leaving the show. Over the year’s he’s overhauled his image in a bid to shake off his well known EastEnders character.
He previously slimmed down ahead of his appearance on Celebrity Fame Academy.
The 53-year-old decided to get in shape as he didn’t want to look foolish in the Academy’s gruelling exercise classes.
Speaking in an interview, he explained: “I’ve tried to lose some weight because I don’t want to make a t*** of myself in the fitness class.”
Admitting his weight fluctuates, Shaun joked to The Sun: “But I’ll put it back on, don’t get me wrong – I’m Fat Barry and that’s that.”
And last year, he appeared on ITV’s Loose Women where he underwent a dramatic Queer Eye Makeover.
Four of the Fab Five, from the Netflix original series, were on hand to transform Shaun with changes to his hair and clothes.
Despite leaving EastEnders 14 years ago, Shaun admitted that he has continued to be plagued by his idiotic soap character.
He confessed he was “not under pressure” to look good because Barry was fat and scruffy but he was “willing to change”.
Wearing a fitted sued coat, and polo shirt, Shaun looked miles away from his much loved character, as he showed off his trimmer physique.
It comes after Shaun revealed the dramatic results of his confidence boosting hair transplants in 2017.
He opted for two surgeries, totalling 3400 painstaking grafts consisting of close to 8000 hairs, at the Farjo Hair Institute in Manchester after reaching a low-ebb following his departure from EastEnders.
“Very slowly my new hair started to grow through,” he told The Daily Mail.
“It was such a gradual and natural process that people who saw me regularly didn’t even notice.”
Stephen Fry recently revealed how he shed five and a half stone in four months.
The comedian, 61, manage to slim down from a whopping 21 stone by making one simple change to his lifestyle.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast yesterday, Stephen opened up about his weight loss and what he did to beat the bulge.
He told the presenters: “I’ve lost a bit of weight. I’ve lost 5 in a half stone, I was 21st in April. I’ve lost the weight since then.”
When asked how he transformed his life, the actor explained he started walking more to slim down.
He said: “I walk a lot. It means I can listen to audiobooks as I walk and podcasts and eat up the miles that way.”