Chuck Lorre pushed back after CBS wanted to snub Melissa McCarthy in favour of a slimmer actress for Mike and Molly.

The 73-year-old TV legend, who has also created the likes of The Big Bang Theory and Two And A Half Men, has recalled defending the 56-year-old star after executives pushed for a "hot young woman" for the role.

In his new memoir Sitcom, he wrote: "Believe it or not, they wanted a hot young woman to play a woman struggling with her weight.

"It was even suggested by one exec -- a female exec -- that I consider casting a more attractive actress and put her in a fat suit."

Chuck pushed backed, and in 2011 Melissa captured an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy for the show's first season, just months before Bridesmaids earned her an Oscar nomination.

He continued: "Forgive me for being a little smug, but when Bridesmaids came out, I felt pretty goddamn smart."

Chuck has explained that he found CBS' stance "quite something".

He told E! News: "But by that point in my career, I'd finally grown a pair and said, 'No, that's my Molly, and I can live with your unhappiness. That's Molly.'"

Mike and Molly ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2016, and its creator feels fortunate they were able to cast Melissa "at a moment in time just before she became a superstar".

He added: "She went on to become a movie star. She's a once in a generation actor. She's a supremely gifted actress."

Last month, Melissa opened up about how being cast in Bridesmaids was a "truly" life changing moment, but she thought she'd messed up the audition.

She told Variety: "The fact that Kristen and Annie let me come in for that truly changed my life.

"I thought I blew the audition because I got too weird, because I was sitting there improvising with Kristen. I got too comfortable! I said weird things!"

And while the studios had some doubt about Bridesmaids' box office potential, Melissa was confident.

She added: "Before Bridesmaids was released, people were like, 'The numbers are not looking good.' And I was like, 'It's not out yet.'

"And they're like, 'We know how to do this, and the numbers are not looking good.' And I was like, 'OK, but I'm just saying I think it's really funny and I think people are going to think it's really funny.' "