Lucy Mecklenburgh has hit back at internet trolls who branded her "fat" after her baby shower.
Lucy Mecklenburgh
The former 'The Only Way is Essex' star - who is expecting a son with her fiance Ryan Thomas - was left furious after online bullies made hurtful comments about her figure, and she revealed she shared some of the most vicious on social media to "make a statement" about body-shaming.
Speaking to OK! magazine about the incident, Lucy said: "For me, it was more about making the statement that body-shaming a pregnant woman, or anyone, is unacceptable. If someone wasn't in the positive mental state that I am now, that could really affect them."
The 28-year-old star admitted the comments made her feel "upset" and revealed that she was grateful for former 'Coronation Street' actor Ryan's support.
She added: "I'm lucky I've got Ryan supporting me but I did get upset. You feel more vulnerable when you're pregnant, so then to read comments like 'you're fat', 'you've got a fat face' or 'you're huge' obviously hurts. It's modern-day bullying and something needs to be done. These comments should be monitored and taken down."
She also revealed the cruel comments angered Ryan, 35, and he was keen to reassure his partner after the baby shower.
Lucy explained: "He hates seeing me upset. I was really tired after the party and he gave me a big hug and said lovely things like, 'You look beautiful, don't read what they say, no one has anything nice to say on these things.' "
Lucy was also touched by the support of Ryan's former co-star Brooke Vincent, who revealed that she didn't feel confident enough during her own recent pregnancy to respond to similar criticism.
She said: "Brooke is one of my closest friends and I didn't know she had gone through that, so for her to write that was incredible. There is a fine line in that you don't want to give trolls a voice, but also you want to say something rather than ignore it. Enough is enough now."
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