The Traitors star Julie Hesmondhalgh has shared a different perspective on women’s appearance, saying they can be sexually attractive regardless of how they look.
The actress, 56, who is best known for her role as Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, has been in the spotlight once again after joining the cast of the BBC show.
However, she was banished from the castle earlier this month.Â
READ MORE:Â ‘Celebrity Traitors’ stars raise concerns over show’s challenging filming process
In the wake of her departure from The Traitors, Julie spoke to The Sunday Times Magazine about her image, having previously described as ‘not traditionally beautiful.’Â
During her 2017 appearance as rape survivor Trish Winterman in Broadchurch, her character was described as an ‘ordinary-looking middle-aged woman’, who was told: ‘Of all the women at that party, why would someone rape you? It doesn’t make sense.’
On the role and having ‘internalised misogyny,’ she said: ‘Part of me still believed rape is an act of desire when it’s not. It’s an act of violence and it’s about power. But yes, I had to fight the idea that I could not be desirable.’
Julie went on to reference her Traitors co-star Maya Jama in regards to attractiveness, saying: ‘I just have to remember that women understand that you can be sexually attractive without looking like Maya Jama.’
Meanwhile, Julie was the third celebrity to be banished when her fellow celebrities became convinced that she was a Traitor.
READ MORE: Olly Murs explains why he turned down ‘Celebrity Traitors’
