Rivals star Emily Atack slams diet culture after gaining weight since birth

Emily Atack has been overshadowed by vicious online trolls for years, and now the actress has slammed body shaming and diet culture after she admitted to being pressured to lose weight.

The comedian gave birth to her son, Barney, four months ago and has confessed that she's been questioned about her weight gain and when she'll go back to the gym.

Speaking on Jamie Laing's podcast , she shared: "There's something quite liberating about having a baby. Your body goes through so much and you genuinely look at your body as a completely different vessel.

"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 shares Barney with new partner, 39-year-old Dr Alistair Garner, a nuclear physicist. The pair were originally close family friends before romance blossomed.

Emily continued: "The last thing I want to do is go to the gym but the first thing you're expected to do is get back into shape.

"Where's the congratulations for being a mother? Instead it's when are you going to get the baby weight off... I'm not back at the gym at the minute, I've actually put on more weight since giving birth. I'm just enjoying this bit."

In an interview with , she explained that she "hates dieting" and only exercised in the run up to her acting stint in the hit series, Rivals.

She said: "But I did go in the run-up to the tennis scene. Squats, exercising, trying to get my body ready. I hate dieting and love pasta and wine."

She has previously shared that she has a healthy relationship with her weight: "Luckily I've never ever had any unhealthy eating habits, or dieting, I'm so f***ing lucky that I've never in my life.

"I don't go on diets. There have been times in my life where I've thought I've got to lay off the wine for a bit and get in shape for this new role or for my mental health I've gone to the gym a bit more but I've never become thinner because of being called fat. I've had to train my brain."

Rivals is streaming now on Disney+