Emily Atack blames recent weight loss on sepsis
The actress has opened up about the serious health complications she suffered after welcoming her son Barney, while hitting back at online scrutiny over her changing appearance and pressure on women after childbirth.
Emily Atack has spoken candidly about suffering from sepsis after giving birth to her son Barney.
The Rivals actress, 36, welcomed her first child with her fiancé Alistair Garner, 35, in 2024 and said the aftermath of her pregnancy left her housebound for weeks, revealing the serious illness contributed to her recent weight loss following months of public scrutiny over her changing appearance.
Emily, who rose to fame playing Charlotte Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners before going on to appear on Celebrity Juice, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Disney+ drama Rivals alongside David Tennant and Aidan Turner said she had faced criticism both during and after her pregnancy over her looks.
Speaking to Grazia magazine, Emily said: “I was trolled for being enormous when I was pregnant and I’m now trolled for having lost weight.
“My body holds all my trauma as well as my happiness and joy. I went through a very difficult pregnancy. I was very ill after the birth. I had sepsis, I couldn’t leave the house for weeks. It was awful.”
Emily added she was frustrated by continued commentary surrounding her appearance and denied claims she had used weight-loss jabs.
She said: “I’m just asking for people for a little bit of patience and understanding at such a complex thing. Women’s bodies change all the time. I am so done with defending it.”
The actress confirmed she is now recovering well and is preparing to marry Alistair later this year.
Emily and Alistair announced their engagement after welcoming Barney, with Emily previously describing motherhood as “the best thing” to happen to her.
The actress has recently been at the centre of online speculation after sharing slimmer-looking photographs on Instagram, with some followers accusing her of using weight-loss injections.
Emily has increasingly spoken publicly about body image and the pressures placed on women in the entertainment industry since becoming a mother.
During an appearance on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, Emily discussed the expectations women face after childbirth.
She said: “There’s something quite liberating about having a baby. Your body goes through so much and you genuinely look at your body as a completely different vessel.
“Being pregnant and being desexualised, looking at your body, you create a human inside you, then you give birth to your child – which by the way is mental – you get home and the first thing people say to you is, ‘When are you going to get back in the gym?’”
She added: “Are you kidding? I’ve just created a human, I am exhausted! I’ve just tried to push a human out of me and had it ripped out of my stomach.
“The last thing I want to do is go to the gym but the first thing you’re expected to do is get back into shape.
“Where’s the congratulations for being a mother? Instead it’s when are you going to get the baby weight off.”
Emily also reflected on the intense attention she received after finding fame as Charlotte in Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners, which remains one of her best-known roles more than a decade later.
She said: “Everybody started talking about my weight.
“There was a whole Facebook page dedicated to me/Charlotte Hinchcliffe. I couldn’t believe how awful it was, people talking about my weight.”
Emily added: “People would then try and be positive and say, ‘At least we’re seeing curvier girls now playing sexier roles on television.’ I didn’t even know I was curvy!
“I was a size eight, a tiny little body, but to some people it was the first time they’d seen a girl that wasn’t really, really skinny. They were used to seeing very underweight actresses playing the sexy girls.”
