Actress Aimee Lou Wood, whose recent appearance in The White Lotus has won her yet more fans, has previously opened up about the various personal difficulties she’s experienced on her road to success

She’s one of the brightest stars of the moment, riding on a high following a memorable role in the most recent season of The White Lotus. But actor Aimee Lou Wood has had to overcome significant difficulties in life, from a traumatic childhood to a diagnosis that has helped her make sense of some of her early struggles.

The Stockport-born star rose to fame on Sex Education and has gone on to become one of the best-loved British actors of her generation. The 31-year-old has had to learn to love herself, however, overcoming issues with low self-esteem, all while becoming one of the most recognisable faces on TV.

READ MORE: White Lotus’ Aimee Lou Wood diagnosed with ADHD as she makes sense of childhood traits

Traumatic childhood

In a previous interview with The Guardian, Aimee spoke about the difficult childhood she endured with a father who was addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Aimee shared: “He would go out for a pint and not come back for days. He once went out and didn’t come back for 10 weeks because he’d been to the World Cup in Korea.”

She continued: “He was a party animal on the scene in Manchester so he would hang out with celebrities and Manchester City football players; he had a massive ego, so that gave him validation.

“Because of him, my mum had to carry a lot on her shoulders. She tried to protect us and took responsibility for it, in a way.”

While Aimee was still at school, her parents parted ways, and her mother’s new partner paid for her to attend a posh private school. Sadly, the bullying she endured there further dented her confidence.

Despite her difficulties, however, Aimee found solace in acting, studying for a drama A Level at Cheadle Hume School before studying at the Oxford School of Drama, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Two years after graduating in 2017, Aimee bagged the breakthrough part of Aimee Gibbs in Sex Education, which saw her scoop up the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

Body image woes

In a 2020 interview with Glamour, Aimee shared how she had suffered from body dysmorphia all her life, revealing: “When I think back now, I was so harsh to myself. I actually wrote on my mirror when I was younger, “fat,” in lipstick so that every day I’d go to it and go, “Okay, just remind yourself that that’s what you are.”

Despite her body confidence issues, however, Aimee threw herself into some of Sex Education’s more explicit scenes, making her first appearance topless.

She recalled: “With the masturbation montage, even with all the unflattering angles I thought, ‘Think of the young girls that are going to be watching this and going, ‘Oh thank God, that’s what I do,’ or, ‘we don’t always look perfect’.

“I remember before the first sex scene, I thought, “Right, okay. I’ll start eating salads every day,” and I just didn’t. That was such a turning point for me, making that decision to go, ‘Actually, I’m not going to alter how my body looks before this scene because this is how my body looks’.”

Co-star romance

Aimee previously dated her Sex Education co-star Connor Swindells, who also played her onscreen boyfriend Adam Goff. The pair were in a relationship for two years but ultimately called it quits in 2020.

Revealing the reasons behind the split in a 2021 interview with Grazia, Aimee explained: “We’d had some time apart, and then we realised that maybe the relationship wasn’t serving us both. We still really love each other and respect each other. It was an okay breakup, it wasn’t dramatic.

Detailing why romance can be a tricky topic for her, Aimee added: “I find it hard when I’m in relationships to maintain my sense of who I am. I’m very independent, but I’m also quite impressionable.

“I can be taken away from myself quite easily, I kind of start betraying myself and compromising my integrity, to keep someone else happy. That’s why it’s really important for me to have time alone.”

Dual diagnosis

Aimee Lou recently announced that she’d been diagnosed with ADHD accompanied by autistic traits.

She told The Sunday Times: “I got diagnosed a few years ago with ADHD with autistic traits. But then it’s been advised that I should go for an autism assessment.

“They think that maybe it’s autism that’s leading the charge, and the ADHD is almost a by-product of the masking.”

Aimee went on to share how, as a child, she’d been “almost mute, very socially anxious”, and “couldn’t sit down and eat a meal”.

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