Holby star David Ames: I used to be clinically overweight, but now I feel comfortable in my own skin
Holby City star David Ames has revealed that he used to weigh nearly 16 stone, but slimmed down in order to “feel comfortable” in his skin.
Ames, who joined the cast of Holby City last year as gay character Dr Dominic Copeland, appears on the cover of the latest issue of GT (Gay Times) magazine.
In the interview, he discussed the pressure that people feel to be thin in the gay community.
He said: “When I finished university I was some 15 and a half stone. People looked at me differently when I was bigger.
“It’s a massive physical difference in your body, in your health, in fitness.
“And yeah of course, I’m the same as everyone else, we’re all vain to a certain degree.
“It wasn’t like ‘oh I can’t be a fat gay man’, it was ‘I want to feel comfortable in my own skin and at the moment, I don’t’.
“For whatever reason that was, I just didn’t feel comfortable, and so I thought, ‘right, do something about it, see if you feel any differently’.
“I don’t think there’s any shame in being overweight. It just wasn’t how I wanted to be.”
He added: “I come from a sort of ‘hearty meal’ background, you know, Farm folk. There probably was a little bit of comfort eating while I was at university.
“I do remember distinctly sitting and eating bags of Maltesers while watching Sex and the City box sets on VHS.”
Opening up about playing a gay character, he said: “As a gay man playing a gay man, there’s definitely an element of myself in Dominic’s personality, because one thing I wanted to do with Dominic is to have fun with him.”
The latest issue of GT is available to buy now from gtdigi.co.uk, and in shops from August 6.
