Emily Atack has opened up about a deeply personal health struggle she kept largely private after becoming a mother, revealing that she secretly battled sepsis following the birth of her son — an ordeal she says contributed to her slimmer appearance and left her unable to leave the house for weeks.

The Rivals actress, 36, welcomed her first child, son Barney, in 2024 with her fiancé Alistair Garner. While fans saw glimpses of her new life as a mother, Emily has now shared that behind the scenes, she was dealing with a frightening and exhausting recovery after what she described as a very difficult pregnancy and birth.

Speaking candidly to Grazia magazine, Emily addressed the public commentary surrounding her body, admitting that the criticism has followed her through every stage of motherhood.

“I was trolled for being enormous when I was pregnant and I’m now trolled for having lost weight,” she said.

The actress explained that her body tells a much bigger story than the one strangers choose to judge from photographs online.

“My body holds all my trauma as well as my happiness and joy,” Emily shared. “I went through a very difficult pregnancy. I was very ill after the birth. I had sepsis, I couldn’t leave the house for weeks. It was awful.”

Her revelation comes after some social media users speculated about her recent weight loss, with accusations that she may have used weight-loss injections after appearing noticeably slimmer in Instagram photos.

The actress said: ‘I was trolled for being enormous when I was pregnant and I’m now trolled for having lost weight’

Emily, however, made it clear that the reality behind her changing figure is far more complex — and far more painful — than online assumptions suggest.

Addressing the speculation directly, she said she is simply asking for “a little bit of patience and understanding” when it comes to something as personal and complicated as a woman’s body after childbirth.

“Women’s bodies change all the time,” she said. “I am so done with defending it.”

Despite the difficult chapter, Emily confirmed that she is now doing much better health-wise and is looking ahead to a joyful milestone: her wedding to Alistair, which is planned for September.

The star has previously spoken about the intense pressure women face after giving birth, particularly when the public expects them to quickly “bounce back” physically. During an appearance on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, Emily reflected on how pregnancy and motherhood completely changed the way she sees her body.

“There’s something quite liberating about having a baby,” she said. “Your body goes through so much and you genuinely look at your body as a completely different vessel.”

She continued by describing the shock many new mothers feel when, after carrying and delivering a child, the focus quickly shifts away from their strength and towards their appearance.

“Being pregnant and being desexualised, looking at your body, you create a human inside you, then you give birth to your child — which by the way is mental — you get home and the first thing people say to you is, when are you going to get back in the gym?”

Emily said the expectation felt almost unbelievable.

“Are you kidding? I’ve just created a human, I am exhausted!” she said. “I’ve just tried to push a human out of me and had it ripped out of my stomach.”

She added that instead of immediately being asked about weight loss, new mothers deserve recognition for what they have endured.

“Where’s the congratulations for being a mother?” she asked. “Instead it’s when are you going to get the baby weight off.”

At the time, Emily said she was not back in the gym and had actually gained more weight after giving birth — something she said she was choosing to accept while enjoying the early stage of motherhood.

“I’m just enjoying this bit,” she said.

Emily’s latest comments also reflect a much longer history of public scrutiny over her appearance. The actress revealed that although she has always had what she considers a healthy relationship with her weight, she was unprepared for the level of attention her body received when she rose to fame as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners.

“Everybody started talking about my weight,” she recalled.

Emily said there was even a Facebook page dedicated to discussing her and her character, something she found deeply upsetting.

“I couldn’t believe how awful it was, people talking about my weight,” she said.

She also reflected on how even seemingly positive remarks could feel uncomfortable. Some people praised her for representing “curvier girls” in sexy roles on television — but Emily said she had never even thought of herself in that way.

“I didn’t even know I was curvy,” she explained. “I was a size eight, a tiny little body.”

For Emily, the comments revealed how narrow the standards for women on television had become. She suggested that some viewers were simply not used to seeing women who did not fit the extremely thin image often presented on screen.

“They were used to seeing very underweight actresses playing the sexy girls,” she said.

Now, years later, Emily appears determined to push back against the constant judgement surrounding women’s bodies — especially after pregnancy, illness and motherhood.

Her message is clear: behind every changing body is a private story the public may know nothing about.

And after surviving a difficult pregnancy, a serious post-birth illness and relentless online criticism, Emily Atack is no longer prepared to explain herself to strangers.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/