Olivia Deeble was only 13 years old when she joined the cast of Home and Away, but the actress has revealed that growing up in the public eye had its challenges.
WATCH BELOW: Olivia Deeble’s last day on Home and Away
In a chat with the Herald Sun, 18-year-old Olivia, who played Raffy Morrison on the hit Aussie soap, opened up about the body image issues she faced growing up in the public eye.
“I don’t think it was ever intentionally mean, it’s just that because I was on TV every night, a lot of people would go, ‘Wow, you’re a lot thinner in real life – you look really fat on TV’,” she said.
“It’s just that being on social media and the social expectation of being a certain body type you just go, ‘Wow, that was a little bit jarring’. But now I just kind of take it as it is and I go, ‘Yeah, well I was 14 and my weight was fluctuating as I was still growing and that’s fine’.”
Olivia explained that it was her mum, actress Kate Gorman, who helped her through encouragement and positivity and that after meeting a young Home and Away fan, the former soap star realised that she couldn’t “spread positivity and self-love if I don’t have that for myself”.
“There’s nothing wrong with my body at all and I’ve come to a real place of self-love now and I acknowledge that this is who I am. I am healthy and I’m fit and I’m happy and that’s all that matters,” she explained
“I can’t fix the fact that I’m five foot four and curvy – and that’s beautiful. I can’t change that, I’m not going to be able to grow, or elongate my legs. And if I can’t change it, why on earth am I being upset about it?”
Following her stint on Home and Away, Olivia starred in Disney’s Secret Society of Second Born Royals, where she played Princess Roxana.
The actress left Australia just two weeks after finishing up on the set of Summer Bay, to join the cast of the Disney+ production.
“I was aware my contract was ending, so I started auditioning for things, then the Disney audition came through and I really loved the role,” Olivia told TV WEEK of her big move.
“Two weeks after [finishing] shooting Home And Away, I left to go to Canada,” she added, admitting that she “loved being in a new city.”
Olivia has also undergone a dramatic and mature makeover with a much shorter hairstyle that didn’t go down well with everyone.
“My sister says I look 30 and like a store manager,” she said back in January when she debuted her new look, adding: “My brother hates it, so ya, no regrets.”
The Home and Away star continued: “I also was picking up my brother from school today and someone asked if I was his mum.”
Olivia bid farewell to the iconic soap in 2019 and shared an emotional video of herself leaving the TV set with her co-star James Stewart.
“This clip was taken as I finished my last scene,”. she captioned the post on Instagram.
“After 3 years and almost 1000 episodes I completed my journey in the bay. It was the most amazing experience of my life, I will be eternally grateful for all of my cast mates and crew. Thank you to all of you for the constant support and love.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
