Waterman: 'Weight loss not to blame for split!'

Ex-EastEnders' star Hannah Waterman insists her break-up with husband Ricky Groves had nothing to do with her dramatic weight loss.

The newly-slim actress also dismissed as "absolute nonsense" suggestions of a romance with West End actor Simon Bowman, with whom she was recently photographed arm-in-arm.

Appearing as a guest on ITV1's Loose Women, Hannah confirmed the split but said it was "not the case" that she ended her three-year marriage to Ricky because she had shed three stone.

"We've been together for 10 years and I think that would be rather superficial," she added.

Hannah, who is the daughter of Minder actor Dennis Waterman, is currently starring in Calendar Girls in the West End.

On Wednesday, photographs emerged of the actress apparently walking hand-in-hand in London's Soho with Bowman, who plays leading man Jean Valjean in Les Miserables nearby.

Hannah says Bowman is a good family friend who plays golf with her dad.

She said: "He has a fiancee and they are devastated. He's having some personal problems in his family and his family are very upset and I just kind of wanted to underline that he's a friend."

Hannah and Ricky, who recently starred on Strictly Come Dancing, met when they co-starred in EastEnders. She is said to have ended their relationship on New Year's Day.