When we last caught up with Nadia Essex in March, she admitted the first few months of motherhood had been “particularly testing” after giving birth to her son at the start of the pandemic.
But now Nadia, who is raising her baby alone and is keen to keep her relationship with her baby’s father out of the limelight, admits she’s in a “better place” and reveals she and six-month-old Ezekiel are thriving.
“The first few weeks after Zeek was born felt like a blur, but time has been a huge healer,” says Nadia. “We’ve moved into a new house, Zeek has his own room and is sleeping much better and it’s been more settling. I’ve been able to meet up with my mum friends and socialise, and Zeek is flourishing.
“It’s a complete contrast to how I felt after he was born,” admits the former Celebs Go Dating presenter. “I was petrified of anyone coming near me! I had a huge sense of risk and I just remember being scared and anxious.”
Last month, the new mum candidly admitted she’d experienced a “touch of postnatal depression”, but says regular therapy has helped her cope.
“I still have up and down days; my hormones haven’t quite levelled out, but I’m feeling more positive,” she says. “I have a peri-mental health team who I can reach out to and I have therapy once a fortnight, which helps massively.”
While she’s feeling better on the inside, Nadia’s feeling body confident, too, after a health kick. She’s lost over a stone and dropped three dress sizes over 12 weeks with the help of Muscle Food’s Weight Loss Plan, recommended by her friend, Josie Gibson. And the 4ft 11 star says she’s reaping the benefits.
She says, “I’ve gone from a size 18 to a 12-14. I’ve mostly lost weight around my tummy, and I feel so much better about myself. Even though I was at my biggest while pregnant, I loved the way I looked, but months after Zeek was born, I wasn’t used to seeing myself that big without a baby in my tummy. It’s easy for people to say you should love your body no matter what, but there was a voice in my head which was saying, ‘You’re overweight’.”
She admits the stress of coping with a newborn meant her eating habits fell by the wayside. She says, “I was getting through three chocolate bars a day because I needed energy to stay awake. I never had any respite; I was washing and cleaning in the daytime, then feeding during the night and I was living on fast food, ready meals and chocolate. I got into an unhealthy pattern of going to bed without proper dinner and having junk. It didn’t feel good.”
Once her BMI reached the “overweight” category, Nadia knew she had to change
Check out: Celebs Go Dating's most OUTRAGEOUS moments
Closer celebs go dating most outrageous moments
1 of 39Mark-Ryan bails on Callum for a 'spa day'
Viewers were rightly outraged when one time apprentice reject Mark-dash-Ryan Parsons walked out on his second date with Barbadian Callum (who was, let's face it, waaaaay out of his league) claiming he'd had a spa day booked that he'd forgotten about. The real cincher was the wax sealed, handwritten note he'd left on his departure explaining he didn't want to see him again. Too-posh-to-function Mark Ryan caused dating coaches Anna and Paul a shed load of jip with his penchant for talking down to and insulting his dates.
2 of 39Marty McKenna's agency debut
It's 2022, so you'd think that media-trained telly types would know not to go onto national TV and refer to half the population as "birds" and "pigs". Not so for forgettable Geordie Shore star Marty, who within seconds of sitting down in the agency's newly revamped offices had branded women both and made the delusional claim that he'd "never had any complaints".
3 of 39The fall of Stephen Bear
After a few episodes of Stephen Bear acting as Stephen Bear-ish as it's possible to act, Nadia and Eden decided they'd had enough and chucked him out the agency. Good riddance.
4 of 39Stephen Bear asks for threesome
Speaking of Stephen Bear, remember when he asked those twins for a threesome? Good lord.
5 of 39Stephen Bear
Now we think about it, everything Stephen Bear did was outrageous. Poor blue lips...
6 of 39Joey Essex's burpy date
Some poor old girl who managed to score a date with Joey Essex ended up burping on his face throughout the entire thing. What a nightmare.
7 of 39Jonathan Cheban dates Kimmy K lookalike
This just couldn't have been more classic, could it? Things (obviously) didn't work out, and Kim Kardashian lookalike Chanelle Sadie Paul ended up having an alleged sordid affair with dating agent Eden Blackman. But that's a whole other story...
8 of 39Gemma Collins stands up poor old Laurence :(
Gemma Collins successfully managed to anger the entire nation after failing to turn up to the Eurostar for her Parisian date with Laurence.
9 of 39Joey Essex dates a cougar...
She wanted to dress him as a pony, for some reason.
10 of 39... and Calum Best dates a cougar
He looks like he had a wonderful time.
11 of 39Frankie Cocozza and Charlotte Dawson break the rules and date each other
They were the first celebrity couple to hook up with each other on the show. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. And Frankie is now happily married to someone else.
12 of 39Their double date ends in awks
Both Frankie and Charlotte's dates ended up walking out of the double date set up by the agents after they couldn't stop gushing about the other.
13 of 39And then MARRIED EACH OTHER
Yes, this is a real thing that actually happened and the snubbed dates, Kieran Patel and Katie Champ are still together.
14 of 39Charlotte Dawson bum massage
Charlotte Dawson made an impression (of sorts) on one oh her first dates by giving a bum massage in a busy pub. Not sure where that lotion came from.
15 of 39Calum Best stands his date up
Calum got in hot water with the dating agents after failing to show up to one of his dates.
16 of 39Gemma Collins storms out of date after he called her 'a diva'
She got up an left like a diva after he called her, er, 'a diva'. Well, she did show up about an hour late...
17 of 39Charlotte Crosby spits milk during her date
Playing hot sauce roulette on a first date was never going to end well...
18 of 39Jorgie Porter's date wants to see her on the loo
After telling her that he'd Googled her before the date, Jorgie's date casually mentioned he'd like to watch her on the toilet. Wow.
19 of 39Courtney Stodden's date gets x-rated
Courtney Stodden shocked viewers after getting her date to rub sun cream on her chest.
20 of 39Charlotte Crosby dates a massive sexist
When Charlotte told Jeavon (who also dated Love Island's Malin Andersson) that she'd slept with 20 men, he said: "that is bad, for a lad it's not that bad." Despite the fact he claimed to have slept with 50.
21 of 39Joey Essex and Stephanie Pratt find love with each other
They broke the rules, but was it worth it? Erm. Probably not, no. Because it lasted about two minutes.
22 of 39Ferne McCann refuses to split the bill
After ordering a frankly humungous amount of food, Ferne didn't offer to help pay the bill at the end of the date. She later burst into tears in the dating agency after the guy gave her a bad review for not doing so.
23 of 39Tom Read WIlson admits he doesn't know who Kim Kardashian is
But... how?
24 of 39Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks reunion
Megan and Pete had a notoriously rocky relationship on TOWIE, so putting them on the same series was a stroke of TV GENIUS.
25 of 39Kerry Katona's rude date
When Kerry Katona's date implied her children had been a "mistake", she handled it like a pro – but the nation watched from between their fingers.
26 of 39Jack Fincham and the Waitress
Jack Fincham was set up with a lovely girl called Carol by the agents, but admitted by the end he wasn't feeling it. Instead he got the barmaid's number, and ended up taking her to the final in Tenerife.
27 of 39Jack Fincham's second date
Jack Fincham abruptly ended the date he wasn't feeling by telling his date he was "tired" and had "had enough", before demanding she finish her glass of wine en route to the door.
28 of 39Jack Fincham's second date
He then got set up with an Italian called Chiara, but quickly took offense when she made a joke about one of the bartenders, calling them over and insisting she'd rather be on a date with them, instead.
29 of 39Lee Ryan gets pied
Ha! Ha, ha ha.
30 of 39Lady C's sexual innuendos
Just like narrator Rob Beckett said, the woman is an absolute SAUCE POT - just check out her traffic light analogy. Blimey.
31 of 39Malique Thompson-Dwyer's 'predatory' flirting
After getting slammed by viewers for his 'predatory' flirting at the first mixer, Malique offended one of his dates when he was forced to date two women at the same time, and made his preference for Jakeeme clear - with Danica storming off as a result. awks.
32 of 39Tom's birth affirmations
Anna Williamson is heavily pregnant in series eight and so lovable receptionist Tom devises some birth affirmations in case her waters break at work - "which could happen", points out Anna. Nuggets from Tom include "I am lactating generously" and "my vagina has retained its' elasticity".
33 of 39Amy Childs showed her deep and intellectual side...
When she asked her date, "If you were a sandwich, what would you be?"
34 of 39Malique ACTUALLY fell in love!
And then immediately fell out of it the following morning, after he "had sex all night" with his date, Jakeeme. He was - quite rightfully - told off by Anna and Paul.
35 of 39Liv Bentley walked out on her date
He was "late, stand-offish and entirely humourless" (fair), but his incessant talk of "pumping" was the final straw for Liv, who left halfway through (also fair).
36 of 39But he was totally convinced she was into him
Despite Liv doing a runner in the middle of their drinks, self-confident Otto was still convinced Liv fancied him and accused her of making "f-ck me eyes" across the table. CRINGE.
37 of 39Amy Childs' toilet 'romp' with Jamie
Does this take the biscuit for CGD's most outrageous moment? During a double date with Olivia Bentley, Amy STRADDLED her date in the restaurant before scuttling off to the toilets, returning later looking dishevelled. They claimed to have only kissed... but we weren't born yesterday, hun.
38 of 39Wayne Lineker and Chloe Ferry get engaged
Every series there's a 'forbidden romance' between the slebs but none was more outrageous than the betrothal of Geordie Shore star Chloe Ferry and old-enough-to-be-her-granddad (and brother of national treasure Gary) Wayne Lineker. The internet was agog when they announced their engagement, but it turned out to all be a subtle nod to sophisticated humour with Wayne admitting they "just wanted to see what people would say". Oh, you guys.
39 of 39Chloe Brockett's secret row with Marty McKenna
Although this moment never made it to our screens, Chloe Brockett recently revealed she'd secretly fallen out with co-star Marty McKenna and stormed off set following a row. She explained, "Soooo... something that no one knows about us is on the last day of filming me and @Marty_GShore had an argument. He kept winding me up all day... kept talking over me and I just lost my sh-t. I stormed off and called him a c--t."The pair soon made up though as Chloe continued, "We was friends five minutes later, but yeah, that would have been funny to watch. He annoys me like a brother lol."
She says, “The plan suited me because it wasn’t a liquid diet and didn’t cut anything out. I’d have healthy pre-made meals delivered that I could heat up, or meal kits I could throw together. Typically, I’d have porridge for breakfast, a protein bar mid-morning, lasagne for lunch, and dinner could be anything from a Thai curry, healthy pizza, or spicy pasta with mushroom pesto. It’s made me fall in love with cooking again and got me on the right path.”
Nadia has kept up with exercise, too.
She says, “I’d do a 20-minute Muscle Food online HIIT class, two or three times a week, and go for walks each day. I still have a little way to go – I was a size 10 pre-pregnancy – but I have more energy now that I’m eating healthier. I feel sexier, too!”
Nadia admits that since shaping up, she feels brave enough to “finally start dating again” and is hopeful she’ll find The One.
She says, “It’s given me the confidence to get back out there. It’s really difficult to date or meet people socially when you don’t feel great about yourself, but I’m in a good place. I haven’t had a night away from Zeek yet and it does make me feel anxious, but I need to go for it. I love my nights in, but I also want to be independent, and I don’t want to put my life on hold, because that’s not healthy.”
While she’d love to settle down, Nadia is clear about what she’s looking for and hopes to find a man with “good intentions.”
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She says, “I was picky before I became a mum, but now I’ll be super wary. If I meet someone and get used to having them around and my heart gets broken, it’ll be Zeek’s heart that gets broken too.
“But I trust my gut. I want a long-term relationship and to eventually get married. I want to be wooed and have chemistry and to fall in love. The main thing is, the journey needs to be slow and old-school, because I have to protect Zeek, too.”
For info on Muscle Food’s Weight Loss Plan, visit musclefood.com or Instagram @musclefoodUK.
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