Waterman 'didn't dump Groves due to diet'

Hannah Waterman has dismissed claims that she split from her husband Ricky Groves because she had lost weight.

The former EastEnders actress lost nearly three stone after seeing unflattering photographs of herself last year. She soon separated from co-star Groves amid suggestions that she thought she was too good for him.

Waterman told The Mirror: "The idea we split up and our marriage broke down just because I lost a couple of stone is ridiculous. There’s always going to be more than one reason why a couple splits up, but those reasons are between us. Ricky knows what happened, and so do I. To think I lost weight, I turned horrible, I dumped my husband, is stupid."

She also admitted that she wouldn't return to her previous weight, saying: “No. Absolutely not. My doctors told me I was unhealthy and that my weight meant I was at risk of heart disease and diabetes. I don’t think you should compromise your health for anyone."

Speaking of living the single life, she said: "Right now, I’m rediscovering my independence. I've never set up home on my own before so it’s exciting and I feel like I’m moving forward. I go off to work, come home and cook my own tea, and it feels easy. I think that’s a lifestyle I’m better suited to really - I like my work a lot. Maybe that was my problem all along.

"I definitely won’t be getting married again. It’s not in my make-up and the whole institution of marriage just doesn’t appeal to me. It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a legal contract. You go in thinking it won’t be that different to living with someone, but it is.

"On the one hand the romantic notion of marriage is nice, and sometimes you do it with the idea you’ll have children and all that, but we didn’t. That’s sad but in a way it’s better we didn’t have kids because they’d have been stuck in the middle of it."