Kate Winslet reveals ‘horrific’ media intrusion that made her ‘terrified to go to sleep’

The Holiday actor (50) said she was followed by paparazzi, had her phone tapped and that people searched through her bins to “try and figure out what diet I was on or wasn’t on”.

“It was horrific. There were people tapping my phone. They were just everywhere. And I was just on my own. I was terrified to go to sleep,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.

Winslet, who has just released her directorial debut Goodbye June, said that after Titanic was released, she saw herself on the cover of newspapers and magazines, often accompanied by what she described as “awful, terrible, actually abusive names”.

She said she dealt with media attention with “a good meal, a shared conversation, a nice cup of coffee, a bit of Radiohead and a good poo”.

While filming Titanic in her early 20s, Winslet said she experienced difficulty with her body image, and was not prepared for her body to be in the public eye.

“I wasn’t ready for that world,” she said.

I don’t look like this. My stomach isn’t flat like that

She recalled the negative comments she received from a drama teacher, who told her she would have to “settle for the fat girl parts”, and shared that she was nicknamed “blubber” at primary school as a child.

From the ages of 15 to 19, she said she was “on and off” dieting, “barely eating”.

“It was really unhealthy,” she said.

Reflecting on her depiction in the media after the release of Titanic, Winslet described how magazine cover images of her were edited without her knowledge, which she spoke about in the 2000s.

Winslet recalled seeing the edited images and thinking: “I don’t look like this. My stomach isn’t flat like that. My legs are not that long, my boobs are not that big. What? My arms aren’t that toned. What the hell?”

Earlier this month, the actor called on her famous peers to keep their looks natural amid the rise of non-surgical cosmetic procedures and weight-loss drugs.