Stressed-out Courteney Cox 'drops two dress sizes

It appears the stress of balancing wife and mother duties with starring and producing a TV show is getting to Courteney Cox.

The former Friends actress, 43, has been looking more slender than ever as she attempts to juggle her busy schedule.

Sources tell Grazia magazine that the brunette star has dropped from a U.S. size 6 (UK size 10) to a size two (UK size six) in recent months.

Stressed: Courteney Cox, left, in Malibu earlier this month, is noticeably thinner than she was at last year's Golden Globes, right

Her gritty TV show Dirt, which she stars in as well as produces, has only attracted 5million viewers in the U.S. and production was halted for several months during the writers' strike.

In a bid to save money, the studio behind Dirt has decided to cut season two short after they ran out of scripts due to the strike last year and has decided not to resume production, despite the recent end of the strike.

Courteney has admitted she has been too thin in the past, but has denied reports of an eating disorder.

Referring to her time on Friends, she said: "There was a period when I was really, really thin. I thought I looked great - in retrospect, I didn't."

Now and then: A slender, strained Courteney this month (left) and a healthier Courteney last year (right)

Friends fear Courteney is also feeling the pressure of ageing and her plans to have a brother or sister for her three-year-old daughter Coco.

Last year, Courteney admitted she hoped to undergo in vitro fertilisation again in the hope of having a second child.

She said: "I'm not really ready right this second, but I'll probably do it one more time... We're revving up the engines. I'm only ready 'cos time's a-ticking."

Referring to the ageing process, Courteney said: "People who read a magazine can look at the picture and go, 'She looks great for over 40!'

"But guess what? That's not what I look like. Lighting is everything. When you're in your car and you look in the mirror and the sun's beaming in, you're like, 'Wow, times are getting tough.'"

Strain: Courteney is having to balance motherhood and producing her own show

Her eight-year marriage to actor David Arquette was rumoured to be in trouble after Courteney admitted they had had counselling sessions together.

She said: "I could see how relationships break up if you don't go, 'What are we doing!?' So we went to a therapist, and he broke it down for us.

"He said, 'Courteney, can you see how David gets embarrassed to have any kind of public fight?' I don't scream, but I have no problem saying what I'm feeling in the moment.

"David's the opposite. So if I need to get something out, I have to say, 'David, can you come talk to me for a minute outside?' Had I done that, (the fights) wouldn't have gotten nearly as big."

Stark contrast: Skinny Courteney is a shadow of her sexy 'Dirt' character, tabloid editor Lucy Spiller