Letitia Dean shows off huge weight loss ahead of Sharon Watts' EastEnders return

EastEnders star Letitia Dean has showed off her impressive weight loss in a new teaser episode for the BBC soap opera.

The 57-year-old actress, who portrays Sharon Watts, will be back in Walford tomorrow - months after she left following the death of Martin Fowler. But a teaser episode shows her reaction as she spots Zoe Slater (played by Michelle Ryan) for the first time since her return.

In the clip, Letitia can be seen wearing a pair of figure-hugging black leggings and a top, revealing her weight loss. After the clip was shared by the official EastEnders account on Instagram, many fans congratulated the actress on her new look.

READ MORE: EastEnders' Letitia Dean's weight loss plan after dropping four dress sizes

"She looks incredible," wrote one, while another commented: "Welcome home icon!" A third said: "Sharon is back. Good to see Letitia Dean back in EastEnders." One more added: "The Queen returns!"

Letitia, who has starred on and off on the soap since the very first episode aired in 1985, has spoken openly about her battle with body image and yo-yoing weight over the years and back in 2022 revealed how she had been targeted by cruel trolls. "I had quite a lot of horrible things said about me. 'She's too fat, the other actors complain they can't fit on the same set with her,'" she said on spin-off show Secrets from the Square.

She also revealed that constant criticism damaged her self-confidence and contributed to her getting a breast reduction when she was a teenager. While there were also medical reasons she chose to go under the knife, Letitia admitted vile remarks contributed to her decision.

"Backache had a lot to do with that decision too," she told Hello! magazine in October 2001. "But I was a lot less secure about myself and there was a lot of focus on how I looked. Occasionally, the attention on my appearance still bothers me - it bothers all women, doesn't it? - but I have those things in perspective nowadays."

After reprising her role as Sharon from 2001-2006, Letitia took a break from the soap and starred in Strictly Come Dancing a year later, with the show helping her get in shape. Placing fourth in the competition with dancer partner Darren Bennett, the BBC favourite said it was the catalyst for her to overhaul her lifestyle.

She told Closer: "It started with Strictly Come Dancing because I felt great by the end of the show and the live tour. But the main reason I wanted to do something about my figure was that I was so sick of extreme dieting and my weight yo-yoing.

"I just woke up one morning, and I'd had enough. For years and years - as long as I can remember - my weight had yo-yoed up and down. I'd go on fad diets like Atkins or I'd only eat eggs." Letitia said while she would be able to "lose a stone in a couple of weeks" on the extreme diets, it wouldn't be long until she would "slip back into my old ways and put it all on again."

But when she starred in the stage show High School Musical in 2008, the actress dropped two stone. She revealed she lost weight the "good old fashioned way" by upping her exercise and making healthier meal choices.

"I went from a size 14 to size 10 and I've never looked back. I started going to the gym for the first time last year and now I've grown to love it - running and boxercise are now my favourite things," she shared. "I lost weight the good old-fashioned way, through dancing and exercise - I didn't starve myself or resort to some crazy fad diet."

Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads.