£1m ad blitz to replace blaze dryers for free
TELLY star Nadia Sawalha says shaking her cellulite in an Instagram video is the bravest thing she has done.
The Loose Women panellist posted the footage after years of struggling with her body image and yo-yo dieting.
Nadia, 54, felt compelled to share the video to normalise cellulite for other women – and particularly daughters Maddy, 16, and Kiki, 11.
The former EastEnders star says: “Posting that video on Instagram was perhaps the most courageous thing I’ve ever done. And yes, my daughters were proud of me.”
Learning to accept her body has taken therapy and years of work, but Nadia is now “stronger and happier than ever before”.
Of her younger days, she says: “I was a hot babe and had no idea. I’d cry myself to sleep worried that I didn’t look good enough.”
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Doubts resurfaced in her 40s when she put on four stone after having Kiki. She adds: “I went into denial, avoiding mirrors, wearing elasticated trousers.”
Diet and exercise helped her drop to size 10, but Nadia wasn’t happy. She goes on: “I’d dreamed of this and when I got there, I didn’t believe it.
“In therapy it’s called ‘Stinking thinking’, that you’re living a lie. I couldn’t take it in and I still felt fat.
“I’d look at the size 10 jeans and think they couldn’t be for me. I felt I wasn’t me any more.
“I’d been curvy for years – the classic 36-24-36 figure – and knew I wasn’t supposed to be this skinny bird I saw in the mirror.
“I realised I wasn’t happy, so had therapy. I didn’t want my kids to feel the same way about their own bodies as I’d been made to feel about mine.”
Now a healthy size 12 to 14, Nadia grew to love herself – cellulite and all – and, one day, might even pose nude.
She says: “The older I get, the more ‘out there’ I seem to be, so don’t rule it out.”
Nadia, who backs weight loss programme The Healthy Mummy 28 Day Challenge, admits to using neck-lift tape to hide wrinkles – but has no plans to go under the knife. WHIRLPOOL will spend £1million on an advertising campaign to recall unmodified tumble dryers amid fears they pose a fire risk.
Owners can claim a new model with no fee for delivery, installation or removal of faulty ones.
They can also ask for a free-ofcharge modification by a Whirlpool engineer. Or they can return their dryer and get a refund of up to £150, depending on its age.
The US firm, which also makes machines for other brands, will announce the recall with TV, radio, newspaper, magazine and online ads from tomorrow.
It was forced to act after the government said it would issue a recall for 500,000 faulty Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit models sold in the UK from April 2004 to October 2015. Earlier this month Whirlpool admitted to MPs the true number could be up to 800,000.
It also revealed 54 fires had been logged in recent years, including three in new models.
Blazes start when fluff falls off clothes and touches the heating element. Whirlpool modified 1.7million dryers after the fault was discovered three years ago.
But it says it is expanding its campaign to recall all unmodified tumble dryers. A spokesman for Whirlpool said: “The safety campaign has resolved the issue for 1.7million people – a success rate up to five times the UK average for a product recall.
“There may still be people who have not yet engaged with this campaign, and it is vital that they come forward so we can ensure the safety issue is resolved.”