'I actually really love my body!' Stacey Solomon hits back at bikini body shamers

The singer has embraced her 'saggy maggies'

Stacey Solomon has spoken out the recent criticism about her body since having children.

On an episode of ITV's Loose Women, Stacey, who is mum to Zachary, eight and Leighton, four, opened up about how she felt when she saw images of herself adjusting her bikini on holiday, accompanied by snide captions about her 'sinking' breasts.

'I just wanted to make a point and say that I love my body and am proud of who I am,' she said to her fellow panellists. 'I didn't want anyone to see that and feel like they are not good enough. I feel like it's horrible.'

'I felt like I am setting an example - and no one has a ring light and hair and make-up on standby.'

The I'm a Celeb star, 26, was on the beach with her two sons, as well has her mum Fiona, when the photographs were taken.

'I had no idea anyone was even there. I just come out the water - you know what it’s like - I was squeezing the water out of my bikini!' she added.

When the snaps first emerged, Stacey took to Twitter to shut down the body shamers, saying that her figure was due to breastfeeding after having children - and that is nothing to be ashamed about.

In a tweet in which she shared a photo of the newspaper, she said: 'I LOVE MY BODY @TheSun. My boobs are a result of being pregnant & breast feeding & I love them. I am just as sexy!'

But that wasn't enough for the singer, who also tweeted another photo showing her in a red bikini with her two boys joking: 'currently swinging my saggy maggies around the pool on holiday with these 2'.

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In the newspaper coverage, Stacey's body was compared to X Factor star Louisa Johnson, who was the show's youngest ever champion after winning the singing competition last year. However, Louisa has also hit back at the body shamers, tweeting: '.@StaceySolomon I think you look amazing, everybody is beautiful. Girl power'

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The only person missing on Stacey's sunny break was her actor and TV presenter boyfriend Joe Swash, who also defended her on social media after the pictures came out.

'I love you and your amazing body! I can’t wait for you 2 come home I miss you xxxx', he tweeted in support.

Family Writer

Charlotte Whistlecroft is a former Family writer at GoodTo. She obtained a BA in Theology and Theological Studies at Durham University, going on to study a masters at City University London in 2016. Since leaving GoodTo she has worked as a Social Video Researcher at Mail Online and is now Assistant Producer at BBC Sport.