Gemma Atkinson has undergone quite the transformation over the last few years.
First finding fame on Hollyoaks, she went on to become a soap pin-up in the noughties, but claims she's never felt sexier than since she embarked on a new training regime.
Now a proud 11st, the Emmerdale actress recently opened up about her changing attitude to her body.
Admitting people are shocked when they find out how much she weighs, she said: “The last time I weighed myself was at the gym and I was about 11st.
“I remember telling someone and they couldn’t believe I was that weight."
After years in the public eye, the 31-year-old said she's finally feeling confident about her body.
“I am very happy now,” she said. “I still get insecure, like most girls. My legs will always be my problem area, that’s where we hold weight in my family. I have kind of learned to love them in a way. They have been with me for 31 years carrying 11 stone around, so they are doing something right.
Now a gym addict, Gemma has a strict workout schedule and practices weight training and yoga to achieve her toned figure everyday, getting up at 6am every morning to fit in a workout before she needs to be on set for Emmerdale by 7:30am.
Referring to her muscular body she continued: “When people say, ‘I have got bigger arms, bigger legs or a bigger stomach,’ that’s your body. What you don’t like about your body somebody else will find amazing.
“Some people think the perfect physique is a body-builder type, some people think it is the hour glass, or a Victoria’s Secret model.
“There is no perfect body, it is what you make of your own. You can’t change it, so why spend your entire life resenting it?”
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Gemma first hit screens in 2001 as teenager Lisa Hunter. Just 15 when she made her screen debut, the actress admitted growing up in the spotlight was hard.
“When I first started in Hollyoaks I put a lot of pressure on myself,” she confessed. “I was only 15 so I had puppy fat and I was surrounded by all the glamour girls and I just thought I needed to be slim."
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Admitting it became a problem, she continued: “I put so much pressure on myself, it was boring. I started to resent training and everything about it. Now I embrace it. It is not doing a diet or a training plan. It’s a part of my lifestyle now.
“When I was younger, the more results I saw, the more I chased them. It wasn’t a case of I need to get better and better, it was more a case of if I got a tiny bit worse, I would feel I had let myself down.”
