Abi Titmuss plays up for the cameras outside gym as she gets in shape for her new West End role

Her sexy figure propelled her from dowdy nurse to successful glamour model. So it's no wonder Abi Titmuss wanted to show it off as she left a gruelling pilates class at a London gym this week. The nurse-turned-model-turned-actress was snapped outside Beautcamp Pilates where she has been taking classes to get in shape for a new theatre role.

Abi Titmuss takes a swig of water after leaving a gruelling pilates workout in London

Abi, 34, looked toned and healthy as she left the class which she has taken up ahead of her starring role in Paradise Lost, which opens at the Leicester Square Theatre next Tuesday.

And she couldn't resist giving the cameras their money shot as she stopped to take a glug of water to refresh herself after her workout. Despite the cold October weather, Abi left the class in just her short Lycra all-in-one and trainers - and a pink zip-up top, which she soon removed

Where are my keys? Abi has a root around in her bag as she stops to take a breath

And while women would be horrified to be caught make-up free and perspiring on leaving a gym, Abi didn't have any qualms and looked like she'd barely broken a sweat. The award-winning actress looked so good, in fact, that she attracted the admiring glances of a passing male and was stopped by a woman who recognised her in the street. In Paradise Lost, which will run for just five days, she plays the part of lesbian Suzie, who has an affair with a married woman

Muscles suitably stretched, Abi leaves the gym and makes her way home

The story centres round six people who are bound together through partnerships and family. Three sisters, Katherine, Shirley and Debbie get together one evening for a party where Katherine hopes to use a Ouija board to contact her deceased husband. Shirley is against this since she believes strongly in the occult and has many secrets to hide, mostly from her partner, Steve.

Abi is oblivious to a man walking past checking her out

Meanwhile Debbie, who has a disastrous marriage to husband Martin, embarks on a fling with singleton Suzie. Abi first came to the public's attention as the loyal girlfriend of TV presenter John Leslie, who she split from in 2003 after Leslie was named as the anonymous celebrity linked to the rape accusation in Ulrika Jonsson's autobiography. She then ditched her nursing career for glamour modelling, and appeared in many lads' mags including FHM, Nuts and Zoo.

Abi pushes the prison-style gate closed as she leaves the hard pilates class

Abi left wearing a zip-up top, which she soon removed

But in 2006, she embarked on an acting career after training at the Central School of Speech & Drama in London, and made her debut playing a prostitute with a multiple personality disorder in Two Way Mirror. Her role in the Arthur Miller play won her a Fringe Report Award for Best West End Debut the following year.

In September last year, Abi was directed by John Godber at The Hull Truck Theatre Company in a sell-out run of his classic Up N Under, playing the lead female role Hazel. She then took on her first Shakespearean role, playing Lady Macbeth at The Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft which had rave reviews.

This year, she played the role of Geraldine in the new comedy StageFright, which ran throughout February at the Canal Cafe Theatre, London. And she recently appeared in the musical Dolly Daydream in June before reprising her role as Hazel in Up ‘N Under at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Aren't you Abi Titmuss? The actress walks along chatting to a fan