Daisy May Cooper talks about a moment that stops you cold: standing at the bottom of a staircase, gasping for air, your left arm hurting, and your chest tight. It’s not the dramatic, made-for-television health scare. It’s the silent, personal fear of discovering that your body is failing you at home. For Cooper, that moment marked the beginning of a metamorphosis that would change not only her physical appearance but also her career, public persona, and relationship with those observing her.
The This Country singer used a combination of the ketogenic diet and quitting alcohol to lose about 10 pounds between 2021 and 2024, going from a size 24 to a size 10. It sounds like a success story on paper. It’s actually much messier than that.
Cooper, who turned 40 this year, became well-known for her role as Kerry Mucklowe in the BAFTA-winning BBC mockumentary that she and her brother Charlie co-wrote. Daisy’s physical presence was just as much a part of Kerry’s character as her accent and tracksuit. Kerry was boisterous, chaotic, and utterly endearing. As a result, the industry started posing awkward questions when her body started to change. It appears that she also did.
She has discussed in public the panic that followed the loss of the weight. She asked The Independent, “Is that going to affect me casting-wise?” “When people say, ‘She can’t be the funny big one,’ will I be crossed off their lists?” That fear—a woman who has recently improved her health and is genuinely concerned that getting better might make her less employable—is both ridiculous and incredibly real. It says more about the entertainment business than it does about her.
The lack of victory is what sets Cooper’s story apart from the typical celebrity weight loss narrative. She is not posing for before-and-after photos or marketing a program. Rather, she is describing shame from two different perspectives: shame from others for deciding to change, and shame when she was heavy. She said, “People are just making fun of you for wanting to feel better and be healthy.” It’s a direct statement, and you can tell she’s actually confused by it.
Cooper no longer has a cell phone because of the extreme trolling he experienced. Anthony Huggins, her fiancé and personal assistant, is now in charge of her Instagram account, sharing content that she has prepared but finds difficult to keep an eye on. That kind of retreat feels important to Daisy, who has always come across as warm and openly chaotic in interviews. It’s not dramatic, just subtly depressing.
Her metamorphosis also caused serious practical issues for her other BBC comedy, Am I Being Unreasonable?, which was scheduled to resume as soon as the first season aired in 2022. For a production team, bridging that kind of physical continuity is no easy task, and Cooper has admitted to the awkwardness of filming flashbacks that included her former self alongside a version of herself that hardly looked like the same person. It’s the kind of information that is important but seldom appears in press releases.
It’s still unclear if Cooper’s talent overcame any casting hesitancy or if the weight loss has actually changed how the industry views her. She has made appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Masked Singer, and most recently Last One Laughing since the conclusion of This Country, indicating that the work hasn’t stopped. However, just because the bookings continued to come in doesn’t eliminate the anxiety she described, which is real, specific, and connected to a very specific way women in comedy are categorized.
What’s left over from everything Cooper has said is a little more elusive. She made a health-related choice that might have saved her life. She was made fun of first for her size and then for her diminished size. She was concerned that her career would suffer, and then she was concerned about the implications of her concern. Her candor has a weariness that seems well-earned. As you watch this happen, it’s difficult to avoid thinking that Daisy May Cooper’s weight loss was merely a delusion that becoming healthier would make things easier.
FAQs
1. How much weight did Daisy May Cooper lose?
She lost approximately 10 stone, dropping from a size 24 to a size 10.
2. How did Daisy May Cooper lose weight?
Through the ketogenic diet, giving up alcohol, and making broader lifestyle changes.
3. Why did Daisy May Cooper fear her weight loss would hurt her career?
She worried casting directors would no longer see her as “the funny big one.”
4. Why did Daisy May Cooper quit social media?
Severe online trolling over her new appearance drove her off her own phone entirely.
5. Did Daisy May Cooper’s weight loss affect her TV work?
Yes — her physical transformation created continuity problems for the second series of Am I Being Unreasonable?