She battled postnatal depression after giving birth and separating from her partner last year, all while adjusting to being a new mum. But Malin Andersson says exercise and healthy living have dragged her out of a dark place.
The Love Island star, 30, says her pregnancy with daughter Xaya, now one, was riddled with anxiety and prenatal depression. After giving birth in January last year, she split with partner Jared and found herself struggling.
“It was difficult. I didn’t know what I was doing and I didn’t have anyone to ask,” she explains. “Jared had left, I had pre and postnatal depression and I was heartbroken. I had all these emotions and not much sleep, I wasn’t moving my body, I wasn’t eating well, I was drinking too much alcohol. I felt sluggish and my mental health wasn’t good.”
Malin has sadly faced a series of tragedies, losing her mother, Consy, to cancer in 2017, and then losing her newborn daughter, also named Consy, in 2019 when she was just four weeks old. It was then revealed that Malin had suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-partner and Consy’s father, Tom Kemp. He was jailed in 2020 for actual bodily harm and sentenced to 10 months in prison. In 2021, Malin found love again with old friend Jared and she fell pregnant with daughter Xaya, but sadly they split just two months after Malin gave birth. It was at this point that she decided to turn to exercise in an attempt to improve her mental health, rebuild
her strength and gain some energy.
“I felt so tired and I thought, ‘How can I make my body work better for me?’ I needed more energy. I’ve always hated exercise and used to be the queen of cancelling on personal trainers! I started walking and doing bootcamp-style sessions. Xaya would nap and I’d do some exercise and it would make me feel so much better – it would carry me through the day.”
But Malin knew she had to be careful changing her approach to fitness as she has suffered with eating disorders in the past. She reveals, “I remember restricting myself to 800 calories a day when I was about 15. I liked the feeling of losing weight and it went on a downward spiral from there – in my early twenties I developed bulimia, and then, after Love Island, I had liposuction.”
So while Malin – who also said she over-ate in her pregnancy with Xaya – knew she needed to improve her mental health and feel better physically, she also had to be mindful of her past.
“I really didn’t want to restrict my eating, so I was just making better choices and stopped eating when I was full,” she explains. “It’s difficult when you’ve been binge eating or restrictive eating in the past because your body doesn’t even know it’s hunger signals. I think it’s about balance though. I don’t restrict myself, I eat chocolate in the evening while watching Netflix. I’ve had thousands of messages on Instagram asking me how to lose weight, but I’m not bringing out a DVD, that’s not me!”
Malin has become known on social media for her body-positive approach, but after losing weight she has received some negative comments from people disappointed she has changed her body.
“I’ve always been an advocate for body positivity, but on Instagram there can be a bit of a toxic culture where it’s great if you love the skin you’re in and you love how you look, but what about how you’re feeling? And that’s what I was lacking, I wasn’t healthy. Even though I was comfortable in my body, and I loved it the way it was, I wasn’t comfortable inside and I thought the only way to come out of the dark hole I was in was to start exercising.”
And now she’s been exercising consistently for over a year, Malin says her mental and physical health
have been transformed.
“I have more focus, my sleep is really good and I feel so much stronger. I can carry Xaya up the stairs, chase after her, run around, do the shopping. In terms of depression, there is always sadness in me from losing my mum and Consy, but exercise, healthy eating and things like journalling have really helped me.”
Looking to the future, now she’s in a good place, Malin says she’d love to meet a new partner at some point.
“I keep thinking where I might meet someone – Tesco? In the park?” She laughs. “But I want to start dating. It’s hard when you’re a mum, but I’m starting to do some things for me again.”