Roxy Shahidi
Roxy Shahidi (Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi) is an English actress best known for playing Leyla Harding in the popular ITV soap Emmerdale from 2011 to 2025. She was also a contestant on Dancing on Ice in 2024.
Roxy decided to leave Emmerdale in 2025 to pursue other interests. When she is not on the TV screen she is on the yoga mat. She set up a Yoga Lunch Club and films yoga tutorials for her Youtube channel, YogaRox.
Why Roxy Shahidi is vegan
Roxy Shahidi is vegan for the animals and for health.
Roxy became a vegetarian at eight years old, when she realised the ‘food’ she was eating used to be alive. Later, at the age of 21, Roxy made the switch to veganism:
“I became vegetarian when I was eight and it was the first time that I realised the meat that I was eating used to be alive and fluffy. I thought it was so gross that I decided there and then I was going to become veggie (…) That was until I was about 21. Then I suffered with quite bad acne that I couldn’t get rid of and my mum suggested cutting out dairy as she’d read that it could be related to hormonal imbalances. I started reading into the issues about the treatment of dairy cows and other factory farmed animals and that made me decide to become vegan. I ended up living on houmous for the first six months but I was 21 then and now I’m much more informed about how to make great-tasting, healthy vegan meals.”1Yourhealthyliving.co.uk. Celebrity Health – Roxy Shahidi. Available: https://www.yourhealthyliving.co.uk/roxy-shahidi [Accessed 13 August 2026].
References:
- Yourhealthyliving.co.uk. Celebrity Health – Roxy Shahidi. Available: https://www.yourhealthyliving.co.uk/roxy-shahidi [Accessed 13 August 2026].