Los Angeles, Mar 17 (IANS): Actress Michelle Collins says her battle with bulimia early in her acting career left her looking so ill that a casting agent mistook her for being high on drugs.

The "Coronation Street" star, who plays landlady Stella Price in the soap, was snubbed off a fashion commercial due to the misunderstanding.

"I went to audition for a fashion commercial and they said they didn't think I was right for it because I wasn't upmarket enough," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Collins as saying.

"Later that day my agent called to see if I was okay and told me that actually I had looked so awful the casting directors thought I was a heroin addict and wanted to know if I was on drugs. That was the wake-up call I needed," he added.

The 50-year-old actress admits she used alcohol as a replacement for food and opened up about how she had the body of a child.

"I used to joke with friends that I would order a salad without the oil and then drink copious amounts of alcohol like them. That was just what I did because I thought it had fewer calories than food. I went for weeks without really eating any food. I'd starve all day then binge on anything I could get my hands on," she added.

She also said that she used to raid the fridge and cupboards.

"I had the body of a child, but when I looked in the mirror, I still wanted to lose more."