Putting the debate over her thin frame behind her, Esther Anderson is returning to modelling and feeling happier — and healthier — than ever.
Shaking a mane of impossibly shiny hair away from her equally immaculate face on the set of her latest fashion shoot, actress Esther Anderson looks every inch a professional model.
But it’s no surprise considering the Home and Away beauty started out as a clothes horse, which meant her face and figure were very much public property.
Now the slender star is returning to modelling, fronting a clothing campaign for Howard Showers, but her early experience in front of the lens and dealing with gossip about her “ultra-skinny” frame on Dancing with the Stars last year has given her a refreshingly direct view of her body this time around.
“I am a bit nervous about returning to modelling even though I did it for a big chunk of my life. I’ve modelled longer than I’ve been acting!” laughs Esther as a makeup artist smooths blush on to her perfectly defined cheekbones.
While there’s no doubt Esther’s frame is uncommonly tiny, the 32-year-old says her figure is a product of her very healthy upbringing and genuine love of vegetables, as well as her view that as a model and an entertainer she has a responsibility to consistently look her best.
“I was brought up in a very healthy family, the kind that always has brown bread,” Esther explains. “When I had friends over as a kid the treat I would ask for was white bread! So we’re lucky, we’ve always had a great relationship with food, I love vegies, and that’s really important.”
But Esther admits even her nutritionally balanced childhood didn’t stop her developing a sugar addiction when she first started on the set of Home and Away, playing policewoman Charlie Buckton, in 2007.
“I used to have a sugar addiction but I stopped giving it to my body and it stopped craving it,” Esther says. “The more you have something the more your body needs it. I had to get off needing sugar every day. It helped that I couldn’t eat chocolate because it gives me really bad migraines.”
Now Esther’s only guilty habit is coffee — and a penchant for skipping the gym!
“I have done gym work periodically, but I am lazy!” she says with a laugh. “There were a few years there when I was doing lots of lingerie work [as a model] and I really wanted to be toned for that. When I was modelling the focus was so much on the physical, and it still is an actress because you are employed looking a certain way and you have to stay that way, but I’ve never been on a diet in my life. Now it’s just about walking and being active. Growing up I played lots of sport but now it’s just about how much I run around!
“I love working out at the beach, because it’s outside and I go for long walks. But I do walk really fast. If I tell someone to meet up with me for a walk, I have to warn them they will have to keep up!”
Happily single, Esther estimates she is 5kg heavier than this time last year, but insists her shape isn’t something she worries about.
During her days modelling in Japan she became used to considering her body objectively and viewing her looks as a commodity, bleaching her hair and whitening her skin to match the demands of the market.
“I don’t take body criticism personally because it’s part of my job to look a certain way,” she says firmly. “As a model, for 10 years I got used to the focus on staying in shape and looking good. That’s just what you do. I might not have been able to do that, or have that focus, without work. For people who are working 12 hours in an office, it’s not their priority — they have to do other things, and they find it a lot harder to find that time. Whereas as an entertainer, it’s part of your job.”
Today there’s no doubt that Esther’s professional outlook has helped her perfect her figure, which today is resplendent in a blue and black striped dress from Howard Showers — who she says is a perfect match for her own style.
“Every woman wants to look good, and when you can put something on and feel good, it’s priceless,” she says. “I like fun stuff that suits me and accentuates my body. That’s why this range is so good. It’s beautiful and wearable. And it’s really flattering.”
It’s obvious that part of Esther’s success in front of the cameras both at the beginning of her career and now is because she is comfortable in her skin, no matter what she weighs.
“When I started on Home and Away the schedule was packed and I didn’t have the time focus on fitness,” she says. “People do make the time, on the show, but for me that wasn’t a priority. I was adjusting to everything else and I wasn’t in my lingerie every single week — although these days I am doing a bit more of that!
“I’m fortunate that I have always been healthy and I have learned healthy habits, ways to eat healthily for the rest of my life.”
