Coronation Street star Brooke Vincent has opened up about her struggle with adjusting to life as a new mum and accepting her post-pregnancy body in a frank post on social media.
The actress, who plays Sophie Webster on the soap, welcomed her first child, son Mexx, with her partner Kean Bryan last month.
She has now shared a photo updating her followers on the realities of being a first time mother, saying she "cried and felt ashamed" when her old clothes didn't fit her, and said that she feels like a "completely different person".
Along with a photo of her wearing pyjamas and slippers, she said that she had planned to get dressed up and go on a date night with her boyfriend, but was unable to find something that "looked right".
She wrote on Instagram: "I look like this because I naively thought that 4 weeks after my baby I would be in all my old clothes looking exactly like I did before I got pregnant.
"I thought my jeans would instantly fit and I would just be my 'old self' only with my new beautiful baby."
We need your consent to load this Instagram contentWe use Instagram to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
She continued: "How wrong I was, I tried 23 outfits on at least, nothing looked right, nothing looked like me and I felt like I was looking at a completely different person, I suppose to a certain extent I now am, I am Mexx's mum."
The Coronation Street star added that she had "cried and felt ashamed" as she hasn't "been able to pick up where I left off like people seem to do here on Instagram".
Vincent explained: "The reason for this post is that even when you're in this bizarre industry you still get sucked in, you still feel a certain way when you see others posts.
"So this was so important for me to say, for all the women who think they should look, act or feel a certain way after a baby DON'T! Don't beat yourself up."
She concluded the heartfelt post: "Do you & if 4/6/8weeks or even a year after giving birth you don't fit in your old clothes don't worry, you can always join my club... As soon as my baby boy looked at me, I realised he doesn't care if i fit in my old jeans or not."
