Michelle Keegan regrets stripping off for sexy photo shoots when she was first starting out in her career.

The 33-year-old actress found fame back in 2008 when she landed the role of Tina McIntyre in British soap 'Coronation Street' before leaving the show in 2014 to go on and land high-profile parts in programmes like 'Our Girl', 'Brassic' and 'Ordinary Lies'.

Michelle did appear in some shoots for men's magazines such as FHM as she thought it was necessary to maintain her profile but she wishes she had spurned the offers, despite the money that came with them.

Speaking to the August issue of Cosmopolitan UK, she said: ''It wasn't something that I necessarily really wanted to do. I remember feeling very shy because I was really young.

''But I thought it came as part of being on TV. Now that I'm older, I realise that it is OK to say no to something that you don't feel 100 per cent happy with.

''You don't have to do it because you think you have to do it. But I will say, this is no reflection on 'Coronation Street'.

''I had a brilliant network and team and the PR team were fabulous and really looked after me and it was a different time back then. Everyone did it at that time.''

Michelle has seen her acting jobs stop due to the coronavirus pandemic but she has used her time at home to enjoy a break from work and enjoy some quality time with her husband Mark Wright.

She said: ''We were saying we'd enjoyed it. It's been nice because we've both been working from home.

''Normally we could be out all day or I have to go to Manchester [to film 'Brassic'] or Mark is in London.

''I'm taking my dogs for daily walks, I've been doing a jigsaw a week and I've taken up cycling on a proper road bike. We go out three times a week and do 11 miles!''

Read the full interview with Michelle in the new issue of Cosmopolitan, which is out on Thursday (02.07.20).