Former Emmerdale star Gemma Atkinson has hit back at "mum-shaming trolls" who labelled her "tubby" ahead of the birth of her second child.
The 38-year-old Hits Radio presenter and actor recently announced she expecting a little boy with her partner and Strictly star, Gorka Marquez. The pair already share a daughter together, three-year-old, Mia.
And while the family are full of excitement ahead of welcoming their new arrival, Gemma's pregnancy has been somewhat tarnished by vile trolls who have been taking to social media to attack the star, claiming she has "let herself go" during her pregnancy, OK! reports.
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And now, Gemma, who claims she has "carried a lot heavier this time", has hit back at the cruel comments as she proudly states she is "embracing the changes" as she's "growing a human."
In a new interview with The Sun, Gemma said: "I will always get this stuff – pregnant or not. Embrace the changes. My cellulite on my a**e is tenfold at the minute! My boobs are massive and I struggle to put my shoes on.
"But I’m growing and creating life. My son. And for that blessing, I’ll take all of the above and more, including the p***ks on Twitter.”
She continued: "It’s always guys who say it and I always think, 'would they say that to their mum when they were expecting?' I get it in some aspects that they've gone from seeing me when I was training, but it’s naive they don’t understand why your body is changing."
Gemma and Gorka revealed that, having siblings themselves, the couple felt it necessary to expand their family. The actress said that, ten years ago, she wouldn't have even thought about having children, and that she thought she would just settle down with dogs.
She also dished on how she and Gorka got pregnant with their second child, as she said it happened very quickly after they started trying.
Gemma announced her pregnancy in January as she took to Instagram, the pair shared they are set to welcome their second child – a baby boy – as they posted a series of sweet pictures of Gemma showing off her baby bump.
Gemma added in the caption: "Impossible to hide my belly any longer. I’ve officially 'popped.' Our baby boy will be joining our family later this year."
She continued: "We feel so incredibly blessed and Grateful to be on this journey again. Mia is absolutely thrilled! Although we may need to do some negotiating on names, as so far she’s adamant he’s going to be called Barbie."
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