The make-up free woman: Bionic star Michelle Ryan steps out looking less than super

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated:

Former Bionic Woman star Michelle Ryan fades into the background as she walks around Los Angeles wearing no make-up and casual clothes.

Toting a cup of coffee, and a bottle of water, the plainly dressed actress blended in with the crowds as she shopped at trendy framer's market The Grove in Hollywood.

Michelle's dressed down look is a far cry from the glammed up figure she cut at red-carpet events last year before she made her debut as the iconic Bionic Woman.

Michelle Ryan

Bland woman: Michelle Ryan stepped out without make-up and blended into the background as she shopped in Los Angeles

Last year it seemed as though she had catapulted herself from pretty British soap actor to an international star when she landed the title role in the remake of the 1970s series.

But when the show flopped and was not commissioned for a second series, Ryan - already suffering jibes about her lack of star status and unconvincing American accent - was soon on a plane home.

 
Michelle Ryan
Enlarge   Michelle Ryan

The former EastEnder Michelle admitted that she rarely gets recognised when she doesn't wear make-up

Michelle Ryan

Glamour: Michelle as Bionic Woman

And in comparison to when she left, she returned to a Britain that had all but forgotten her EastEnders character Zoe Slater had ever existed.

Michelle recently admitted she isn't often recognised in the street these days.

She told the Daily Mail: 'If I wear make-up, then people recognise me,' she reveals, 'but the rest of the time, no one really bothers.'

Meanwhile the former EastEnder who is now starring in BBC show Merlin, said that that, far from cementing her status as a sex symbol, the Bionic Woman role blew her chances with men altogether.

She said: 'I knew playing a woman with bionic strength was going to ruin my chances because men were going to be scared,' she admits. 'I had this amazing new body, and was super-fit, but I couldn't get a man.'


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