Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh has said photographers’ attempts to take revealing pictures of female stars need to stop, after her co-star Nicola Thorp said she was subjected to sexist behaviour at the British Soap Awards.
Marsh was speaking after Thorp revealed on Wednesday that a photographer attempted to take a picture of her breasts while she was putting on a seat belt in a car after the ceremony.
Marsh said she often experiences similar treatment and backed her colleague’s call for an end to the behaviour that Thorp claimed was prevalent at red carpet events.
Marsh told OK! Magazine: “It’s a horrible end to a great night when things like that happen but it does happen.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve got into a car after a night out and a photographer’s trying take a picture between my legs.
“It needs to stop. As a woman in the public eye, there’s always the worry that something like this will happen when you go out and that shouldn’t be the case at all.”
Thorp had attended the awards ceremony as nominee in the category for best newcomer for her performances as Nicola Rubinstein in the ITV soap.
She lost out on the night to Lorraine Stanley, who plays in Karen Taylor in EastEnders.
Despite not winning the prize, Thorp wrote in an article for The Metro that she had enjoyed the event prior to the paparazzo’s efforts to take an unflattering picture of her.
Thorp said the incident was symptomatic of the dark culture that exists in the media’s coverage of red carpet events.
She wrote: “While the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns are redressing the gender inequality in the world of entertainment and beyond, there remains a dark alley of the web where sexism thrives: the red carpet reports.
“And the effects of the toxic language within them are damaging not only for the individuals in the article, but for the individuals being targeted to read it.”
The full interview with Marsh can be read in the latest edition of OK! Magazine and on its website http://www.ok.co.uk.
