Posing for our exclusive photo shoot, Love Island's Amy Hart looks every inch the doting mum as she scoops up her one-year-old son, Stanley, and squeezes him for a cuddle. The star, who found fame in Love Island in 2019, admits her life has changed since becoming a mum, and in recent months so has her attitude towards her body.
“Having Stanley has just made me want to enjoy life even more,” Amy, 31, tells Closer.
“But it’s also made me think differently about how I look. I think less about looking good ‘aesthetically’, now it’s more about how I feel on the inside.
“My body has changed so much, I’ve gained weight everywhere, even on my face. I’m bigger than I used to be, but I love the curves I have! I really enjoyed pregnancy too; I’ve always had a little bit of a tummy and been conscious of it, but suddenly I had this very socially acceptable huge belly, which was amazing – I was in Spandex for six months!”
Speaking about her changing attitude, Amy says, “When I was a size 8, if I put on a little bit of weight it would’ve been the absolute end of my world, but now I’m bigger it doesn’t bother me. I’ve learned it’s also about how you dress. I struggled with my style after having Stanley, he was born in spring and what I’d normally wear then didn’t suit me. Now I love a wide trouser, blazer and a bodysuit – I’d wear that every day if I could!”
Though Amy, who is set to wed her fiancé Sam Rason this summer, readily admits it took some time getting used to.
“Once you’ve given birth, you feel a bit insecure,” she explains, “and at the beginning I used Stanley as a prop in photos and held him in front of my belly! I wore a bikini on holiday a few months after and I thought, ‘This body made Stanley, I’ve got nothing to hide – own it!’”
She adds, “I thought I’d be one of those people who’d be in the gym all the time, but as a tired mum, it’s lower down on your priority list. Of course I want the energy to run around with Stanley, but I also love fast food and could eat it every day! I know that’s no good, so I have a nutritionist who helps guide me. In the past, I would’ve tried artificial things like crash dieting or protein shakes, whereas now I’d rather get my protein from whole foods and don’t obsess too much.”
Despite her upbeat nature, Amy admits she’s still been on the receiving end of cruel comments about her figure.
“Being in the public eye is fortunate, and me and others are trying to lead the way when it comes to body confidence, but I still get unkind messages. When it was announced I was hosting the Love Island podcast, a picture of me went up and loads of people said, ‘I don’t even recognise Amy, she’s put on so much weight’ – some were like, ‘Well, she’s had a baby’ and others wrote, ‘Yeah, but it’s nearly a year ago, it’s not an excuse!’ I still can see people arguing in my notifications!”
While the star tries to ignore comments, she admits on occasion she’ll reach out to the troll in question.
“I got a message the other day, saying, ‘Hi Amy, you are absolutely, devastatingly ugly, and you need to sort it out’. Again, I ignored it, but sometimes what I love to do with horrible messages is take their name and find them on Facebook. Almost always, they’ve shared a post on their profile with the hashtag ‘be kind’, which is ironic. I take a screenshot, send it back to them, and say, ‘Is this you?’ just to make them think about what they’ve said.”
The star has also been open about suffering with anxiety in the past, admitting she “lacked confidence and felt like a failure”, and credits having therapy after Love Island with helping her “be more chilled”. These days, she feels stronger in the face of low moments.
She says, “When I came out of Love Island, I was struggling with bad anxiety. I was really skinny because I wasn’t eating, as I had an anxious belly all the time. I always ballpark my anxiety level and compare it to then – I don’t think anything will ever be as anxiety-inducing because my life changed overnight. I was here, there and everywhere – everything I was saying was being magnified, it was a lot to deal with.”
She adds, “Nowadays, I can see the signs. My anxiety manifests itself with dehydration, I suddenly feel the urge to drink loads of water. When I came back from Casa Amor, I drank 17 bottles in 24 hours, which is a lot! A couple of weeks ago, I was having an anxiety episode – and I didn’t realise I was, until I was driving home and had to pull over at a service station to buy water because I was so thirsty – that’s when I know something’s wrong. Once I know it’s coming, it’s easier to deal with.
“As a mum, it’s important to have other things that stimulate your brain, whether it’s jogging, a series you like – try to have something that is just yours.”
Amy is also open about surgery; she opted for a boob job aged 20 after being inspired by ex-glamour model Katie Price, and says she’ll have an uplift once she’s finished having children.
“I went from a B to a C. I didn’t go overboard, but my hips were big, and I wanted to balance myself out. I also grew up in an age where our patron saint was Katie Price,” she laughs. “At that time everyone successful in the public eye had their boobs done, I just loved that look.
“When I finish having children, I’ll have an uplift as they droop a little bit afterwards. I used to be a 32C and now I’m a 36DD, and that’s with pregnancy and weight gain! You used to be able to tell my boobs were really fake, now I can’t tell you which part is the implant and which part is new,” she laughs.
And though she may have her hands full with Stanley, the star is also busy preparing for her extravagant wedding in Spain later this year. “It’s going to be a four-day affair,” she reveals.
“We’ve got a party night, a BBQ and a pool party, and then the wedding. Some people say it’s not about the party, it’s about the marriage, but for me and Sam, we love celebrating and getting people together, so it’s definitely about the wedding!”
Amy also reveals the pair are desperate to add to their family and plan to continue their baby-making journey as soon as their wedding is over. The star froze her eggs in 2019 after doctors warned her she could be at risk of early menopause, a condition both her mum and nan had gone through. Luckily she was able to conceive Stanley naturally, but she admits she does feel some pressure.
She says, “I’d love four kids. My ideal would be three boys and a girl, I feel like the world only needs one more of me! But I don’t think time is on my side, especially with the early menopause history. We’ll start trying after the wedding and try and churn out the rest. I’ve always wanted a big family, but if I wasn’t lucky enough to fall pregnant again, I’d be really content with Stanley because he’s changed my life!”