Rebecca: I love my kangeroo pouch tummy
OLYMPIC STAR ON POST-BABY LOOK
SWIMMING heroine Rebecca Adlington has revealed she couldn’t care less about her looks after becoming a mum – and loves her “kangaroo pouch” tummy.
Rebecca, 27, had a nose job two years ago after breaking down in tears about her looks while appearing in TV’s I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
But now the double Olympic gold medallist says she is too busy caring for daughter Summer, who turns one next month, to worry about her post-baby figure.
Rebecca, who split with husband Harry Needs, 24, in March, said: “I still have my kangaroo pouch on my tummy.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever lose it but to be honest I don’t mind and I’m not precious. I think it just shows that I have had a healthy baby.
“I definitely haven’t got my body back since pregnancy. But I just want to be a fit, healthy and active hands-on mum who takes my daughter swimming.”
Mansfield- born Rebecca, who won golds in Beijing in 2008 and two bronzes in London in 2012, had endured years of cruel taunts about her appearance.
She broke down in November 2013’s I’m a Celebrity after comparing herself unfavourably to model Amy Willerton.
After her jungle exit, she said: “Every day I look in the mirror and go, ‘God, I’m not pretty. I’ve got a very big nose’. That’s what most of the negative comments on Twitter are about – my nose.
“People say, ‘Oh God you look like a dolphin’, or ‘ I didn’t release they let whales into the Olympics’.”
Ahead of her August 2014 marriage to ex-swimmer Harry, she shed 33 pounds and had a nose job.
She said they split after parenthood took its toll on their relationship.
She reportedly grew close to American Superman actor Dean Cain, 49, while competing in Channel 4’s disaster-hit winter sports reality show The Jump earlier this year.
But asked if she has time to date, she said: “No, my focus i s on Summer.” Reb- ecca was one of several celebrities injured in The Jump. She needed shoulder surgery and was signed off from swimming for three months, returning to the pool last week. Rebecca, who is now fronting a National Lottery campaign to promote healthy eating, said: “I also walk our two dogs every day and go to the gym a maximum of three times a week. “I like to cook simple but healthy meals. “But that’s got nothing to do with wanting to lose the weight. “The first few months after having Summer were such a blur, all I could think about was her. “All of a sudden, when we started getting a bit more normality and routine back, the weight naturally started coming off. “Summer can’t walk yet but when we go swimming we’ll go to the side of the pool and we’ll say, ‘One, two, three, go!’ She jumps on her bum into the water.
“She loves bath-time too and she has a water table outside. She’ll spend hours playing in the water.”
As she and Harry prepare for Summer’s first birthday, Rebecca says they are focused on giving her the best possible upbringing.
Becky, who is commentating at the Rio Olympics this summer, said: “We’ll have a small party at home with some other mums and kids and dads.
“We live together but we get on well and are very focused on Summer.
“My family aren’t local – they live an hour and a half away – but they love spending time with her. Summer goes to nursery two days a week and when I need to work she is with her dad.”
She said the challenges of parenthood, including sleepless nights and weaning, haven’t always been easy.
She said: “The sleep deprivation is difficult. However, she started to sleep from seven months – and the first time she laughed it melted my heart.”