Corrie star Brooke Vincent jokes about Gwyneth Paltrow diet comparisons as she loves to indulge in takeaways

ACTRESS Brooke Vincent has been compared to Gwyneth Paltrow over the launch of her lifestyle business, but she says she couldn’t be more different.

While Hollywood A-lister Gwyneth runs multi-million pound blog Goop and is a fan of cupping, detox diets and meditation, Brooke indulges in takeaways and loves a practical joke.

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But the 26-year-old Mancunian had to ditch fast food and booze-fuelled nights out last year when she began training for Dancing On Ice.

The diet overhaul and gruelling rehearsals saw her body change dramatically.

The Coronation Street star tells us: “It was very, very intense training and too intense to keep up.

“The whole diet and exercise regime was quite hard and quite anti-social.

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“All of a sudden you can’t go out for food as much, and you can’t just stop off at McDonald’s after a night out with all the girls — and you can’t drink.

“Strict regimes such as that are perfect for an event or a wedding. Or for like I did, Dancing On Ice.”

Brooke admits she is more conscious about what she eats, though it is unlikely you’ll find her doing Gwyneth’s —  rather dangerous — 300 calorie-a-day detox.

Chuckling, she says: “It wouldn’t be three takeaways in 24 hours, it might be just two! I can’t even lie and say I don’t have fast food any more, because I had two McDonald’s last weekend.

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“If I go to Nando’s a few times a week, I will have the chicken and add in some salad. But I do avoid the salad bar as much as possible — no one ever has a salad and a smile, do they?

“I take my hat off to Cath Tyldesley every time I see her, because I think, ‘Oh my God, I would love to take you to my chippy!”

But Brooke, who plays Sophie Webster in the soap, does share Gwyneth’s zest for life and has launched her own lifestyle brand, Oh So B, to spread messages of positivity.

Her collection of diaries, on, are for busy people to plan their lives and receive messages of encouragement throughout the year. Notebooks and postcards are soon to follow.

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Brooke says: “Being compared to Gwyneth is flattering, I’ll take that — she’s an A-list Hollywood star.

“Maybe one day it will be as big as Goop but, at the moment, I just want to concentrate on the stationery and positive message.

“Someone at Corrie said I was a little ball of positivity because I always like to have a laugh — I don’t take myself too seriously. I just think life’s too short. I get motivated by motivating others.

“I always wanted to start a business and I love being organised. And if I can make even one person smile then I’m happy.

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“It’s very common for a woman my age to feel anxiety. I think it’s a thing with women in general — we worry — about whether the bins are out, whether the right bin is out, it can be anything.

“People have different battles in life.

“While I was planning the diaries, I started putting quotes out on the Oh So B Instagram page — before anyone knew it was my business.

“Most of the quotes I use are ones I’d want to hear myself.

“Some are generic such as, ‘You can do it’ and ‘You will do it if you try’. That could boost so many people who have different reasons for needing encouragement.

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“Or, ‘Every morning you have the opportunity to become a happier version of yourself’. That could maybe help someone who is rushing around getting their family ready before heading to work.

“They could read that and think, ‘Do you know what, I can do that!’”

Brooke received criticism for designing paper diaries in the tech-obsessed world, but she ignored the haters as she was certain the business would be a success.

She was right — the diaries have already sold out and are now on pre-order for Christmas via her website.

Testament to her passion for stationary, she paid £100 for a diary after spotting the “perfect one” on sale in America last year.

She had it shipped to her friend and former onscreen girlfriend Sacha Parkinson, who played Sian Powers, as she was working on a pilot show in the States.

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Brooke says: “I told Sacha, ‘I’m going to send it to your house. Don’t open it, don’t write in it — don’t do anything. I need to see what it comes like.’

“The feeling I got when it arrived and I opened it was brilliant. That’s what I wanted for other people, and it just went from there.”

As well as the stationery venture, Brooke has plenty to fill her diary.

She has her ongoing role on Corrie, having joined the cast 14 years ago, and a two-and-a-half-year relationship with Sheffield United player Kean Bryan, 22.

But there’s no chance of Brooke turning into a demanding Wag while her mum Nicola, 48, is around.

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She tells us: “The other day I asked for a bacon buttie and she said, ‘Come down for it!’ I was like, ‘Oh’. She keeps me grounded. I still live with her, I’m not moving out, it’s cheaper and she won’t let me go.

“She looked after my money when I was younger. She has instilled the value of money into me, she goes mad when packages come from Asos or Pretty Little Thing.”

Brooke and Kean shy away from a showbiz lifestyle, preferring to spend their nights in with a Netflix boxset.

Brooke says: “Kean lives with his family, too. We have date nights and we love it.

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“It’s exciting because I think all of the best times are yet to come for us.”

Despite confessing she “loves” kids, Brooke says she is too busy enjoying time with her six godchildren to consider starting her own brood.

She was just a child herself when she joined the cast of Corrie aged 12, and credits the popularity of her co-star Helen Flanagan, 28, who plays onscreen sister Rosie Webster, for allowing her to grow up — mostly —  out of the spotlight.

Brooke explains: “Helen got more attention, she did things differently to me — grew up so quickly, so the main focus was on her.

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“When I got to an age when I was starting to go out, reality TV kicked in and there was more focus on normal people, not necessarily actors, so that helped me out a bit.”

And Brooke, whose storylines included the soap’s first lesbian kiss, says she’s in no rush to leave the cobbles any time soon.

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She says: “I love it there. I am really lucky to be at such an amazing job, I never take it for granted.

“It’s given me the confidence to do things such as Dancing On Ice and Oh So B.
“They’ve nurtured me. I have fun.
“I would have a real laugh with Sacha. Before we had to do a kissing scene, I would eat an onion to make her laugh.”

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Now her character Sophie is in a relationship with Paula Martin played by 47-year-old actress Stirling Gallacher.

Brooke says: “I really enjoy working with her, she has a great sense of humour. We laugh about her being a cougar.

“When we did our first kiss I’d only just met her and asked, ‘Are you a vegetarian?’

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“I explained I’d just had bacon, sausages, hash brown and beans for breakfast and I didn’t want to infect her if she’d been a vegan for a decade.

"Luckily she isn’t!”

Despite being a Wag, soap star and businesswoman, Brooke clearly has her feet firmly on the ground and — unlike Gwyn — doesn’t speak a load of gobbledy Goop.