Comedian Ellie Taylor has won legions of fans with her self-depreciating style on Strictly Come Dancing this year.
Partnered with Johannes Radebe, the glam Mash Report star has delivered a steady run of good performances, impressing the judges with her weekly improvement.
But Ellie admits that her confidence can be an issue.
Indeed, after having daughter Valentina almost four years ago, the 38 year old said her self-belief was at an all time low.
The 5ft 10in former model admitted she struggled to come to terms with the effects carrying and breast-feeding a baby had on her body, and experienced a deep 'shame' about it.
She said: "My breasts are deflated... my stomach is spongey and quivering, like a panna cotta that's been left out of the fridge for too long. My body has decided it's best if it keeps hold of some of the four stone I put on when pregnant.
"I would look in the mirror and not understand what I saw there. That wasn't me. This strange skin I inhabited shamed me. Sometimes it still does."
In the early days, Ellie tortured herself by looking at images of mums who had supposedly 'snapped back', and felt like she had somehow 'failed'.
But on good days, she gradually came to appreciate what her body had done - giving life to her little girl, who she says is her 'favourite thing in the world'.
"Pre-baby my body was a show home - bright, aspirational, tastefully lit by stylish lamps for Heals. But then my baby moved in and the walls got scuffed, the carpet got stained and one of the lamps got broken during a game of indoor frisbee," she continued in a Facebook post titled An Ode to My Post-Baby Body.
"The 'show home' became a 'home'. It's now unlikely to feature on any Pinterest boards, but what it lacks in chic decor it makes up for in stories and heart."
Ellie previously revealed how she was callously body-shamed during her modelling career.
She was scouted while working as an intern at FHM magazine and went on to feature in campaigns for the likes of Matalan, Asda and Pantene.
However, she never felt like she 'fit in', explaining that she was told to lose weight if she wanted to make it.
"I'm quite ungainly. I'm tall, uncoordinated and awkward, which I can use on stage, but to pose and be pretty I felt very uncomfortable. I hated having my photo taken when I wasn't in control," Ellie recalled to the Evening Standard.
"I was never thin enough to be a proper model and not big enough to be plus-size," she continued.
"One of the other models used to say, 'Let's go to Harrods and look at the chocolates.'"
When Ellie decided she would rather eat the chocolates than pose for pictures, she changed her career to corporate events.
Then in her mid-twenties, a friend convinced her to perform at an open mic stand-up night, and she fell in love with comedy.
Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.50pm on BBC One.
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