Chris Fountain refused to leave the house after he was sacked from ‘Coronation Street’ over a rape rap video.
The 28-year-old actor was plunged into depression and became a recluse after he was dropped from the long-running soap three years ago when a shocking clip of him advocating violence towards women emerged online.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’, Chris explained: "Stupidly, when I was quite a bit younger, I got involved with a group of people. I didn’t know them particularly well and just decided to try and impress these people and ended up doing some very stupid things … I’ve constantly worked since I was 15.
"I started on ‘Hollyoaks’ then I did ‘Dancing on Ice’ and then ‘Coronation Street’ and then this happened.
"It put my family through absolute hell. I didn’t leave the house for a long time. I was depressed, really ashamed."
However, once Chris managed to get over the shame, he poured all of his attention in to the gym.
He said: "It was tough, this is all I’ve ever done. I’ve always been an actor so to have that taken away from me because of something I’ve brought on myself is an absolute killer but I’ve tried to keep myself busy in the gym."
And his long hours working up a sweat in the gym has paid off as he’s now landed a role in ‘The Full Monty’.
He said: "It’s such a gift for me to be able to do what I love to do … We start rehearsals in a couple of weeks … I’ve recently just lost two stone in the gym but still a long way to go."