Dawn French has regained weight and doesn't care: 'I never disliked my body'

Dawn French has admitted she has regained weight and insists, “I don’t give a f***.”

The 62-year-old actress and comedian lost 7.5 stone in 2015 in order to undergo keyhole surgery and has confessed it made her feel really angry and patronised when people kept congratulating her on her weight loss.

French revealed on new Audible podcast French & Saunders: Titting About: "I've gone back to being an entire barrel but do you know what, I'm going to be 63 this year, I don't give a f***.

"I really don't, so long as I can walk, I'm not going to be stingy to myself any more.

"I never did dislike anything about my body, even when I was very, very fat. I refuse to be forced to dislike myself.”

She added: "I used to get really angry when I did lose weight, people going, 'You look so well,' as if you looked awful before – rewarding you for managing it, which is not easy, I accept that. But I didn't want people to give me approval. It's so patronising."

Read more: Dawn French revives The Vicar Of Dibley for Big Night In

The Vicar Of Dibley star previously revealed during her 30 Million Minutes live tour she had lost the weight in order to undergo a hysterectomy via keyhole surgery.

She said: “When I was due to have my hysterectomy the doc told me that if I could lose some weight before the op, they would be able to do it via keyhole, and I would recover in three weeks or so. Otherwise it would be big open surgery, and three months to recover. So, I set about dropping a few stone.”

Read more: French and Saunders reunited in first Death On The Nile trailer

French made the decision to have the hysterectomy after undergoing a uterine cancer scare.

Talking about how she lost the weight she revealed: “No magic wand, just tiny, joyless low-cal eating and lots more walking for weeks and weeks. It was grim. I lost seven-and-a-half stone. I could have the keyhole surgery. Great. That’s all it was, practical.”

French was married to comedian Lenny Henry from 1984 to 2010. They have an adopted daughter, Billie, 29.

French married charity executive Mark Bignell in 2013.

Watch: The return of The Vicar Of Dibley