The gorgeous TV star has never been so fit after dropping 5kg with a strict diet and exercise regimen to get in shape for her role in the theatre production of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
Debra, 62, famous for playing Pippa Ross on Home And Away and starring in Please Like Me and Neighbours, says while she was always healthy, she’s back to “the body she should be in.”
“All of our bodies are in there,” she laughs, as she prepares to do our swimwear shoot.
“When I was a teenager I had a great body, but then I went to drama school and put on lots of weight – and since then I’ve been losing weight, then putting on weight, then losing weight… that whole cycle, which I’m sure everyone identifies with.
“But now it’s not a struggle to stay where I am. My body has come back after all these years and it’s come back to where it’s supposed to be! I feel really good and really strong.”
She pauses, then adds, “Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of loose bits! I had my second child in my 40s so your body protests a bit about that and leaves a bit of a loose tummy behind, but that’s also a mark of achievement, really.”
“I feel really good and really strong.” (Image: Supplied/Phillip Castleton)
Physical role
We won’t be giving you any spoilers, but her role in The Cursed Child is incredibly physical.
The show involved four months of intense rehearsals, and Debra and her castmates were trained by some of the finest movement directors in the world, who also trained both the English and Broadway cast.
“It was four months of six-days-a-week rehearsals, and we’d have an hour-long movement session, which was a combination of Pilates, yoga and cardio. Because I’m a walker and I do yoga I was pretty fit and very supple,” says Debra, “But my abs probably needed a bit of work!
“It was highly motivating, the music was great, and we were a big group of committed actors who were all excited to be working on Harry Potter.”
Debra already did yoga and lots of walking. (Image: Supplied/Phillip Castleton)
Debra’s role in The Cursed Child is incredibly physical. (Image: Supplied/Phillip Castleton)
Not just a regular personal training session at a local gym, then?
“No, not everyone can have that,” laughs Debra. “I was lucky, I know that, and I now do the exercises at home. My body misses it if I haven’t done it.”
And the hard work has shown rewards.
“I have muscles I didn’t realise were in there. From doing endless sit-ups and training, my body has changed! That’s been really good – I’ve felt quite lean and very strong.”
“My body has come back after all these years,” Debra says of her new, fitter body. (Image: Supplied/Phillip Castleton)
Debra’s husband Dennis Coard, who married her after playing her love interest in Home And Away, couldn’t be more proud of his glowing wife.
“He loves me either way, whatever shape I’m in, but the other thing that’s important for him is that I’m happy,” smiles Deb, who says her hubby is no slouch himself when it comes to fitness.
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“Dennis is in really good shape for 67 – he’s very active, he plays soccer, he keeps himself very, very fit,” she says. “And when he tours with theatre companies, his preparation before each show is to do 100 sit-ups and push-ups and all that sort of stuff.”
As for her diet, Debra has always been a healthy eater. Her meals are full of fresh vegetables and protein, and for the past eight months, no gluten.
“I’ve gone gluten-free – not fashionably and I’m not a coeliac, but I’ve discovered that gluten just disagrees with me. And the proof is in the pudding – pardon the pun! I feel really, really good.”
Debra met her real-life husband Dennis on Home and Away. (Image: Supplied)
Healthy food
But it’s not all vegies and brown rice for Debra.
“God, no,” she laughs.
“I have some very dark chocolate every single day, and a glass of red wine every couple of days or so… my body doesn’t seem to be able to go past one glass now, so that’s useful! I eat cheese, and prosciutto and all those yummy things”.
