She never planned on being a single mother, but two months after splitting with Adam Cottrell, Natalie Cassidy seems to be looking at the positives in her life.
The former EastEnders star has lost three stone and says she’s happy being a size 10 and to pose again in a bikini.
But part of her weight loss has been down to the stressful break-up with Cottrell after the birth of their child.
Cassidy hit headlines in May after she had a huge bust up with her former fiancé Adam in front of their baby Eliza, 10 months old.
He later pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage and now has a restraining order under his name.
The stress of the split left Natalie unable to sleep or eat and her weight plunged to 9st 2lb.
She started smoking and turned to sleeping pills to numb the pain but soon stopped taking them as she didn’t want to be ‘spaced out’ .
After shedding weight following the split, Natalie, 28, told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I have been through the mill with weight.
But after pulling herself together and getting her health back on track she is now a healthy 9st 7lb.
‘I have been a size six, I’ve been a size 16 – bordering on an 18. But I am a size 10 now, and I feel that I am the weight I should be.’
She added that she had her breasts surgically enlarged to a D cup at the age of 22 when she was a bigger dress size but originally an A cup.
‘I am smaller all over now, so my boobs do look bigger – but I’m not complaining. Who moans about huge knockers and a tiny waist?’ she said.
Natalie says that she started exercising when Eliza was four months old and admits she works very hard to stay in shape because she piles on the pounds very easily.
She recently showed off her figure on a holiday in Turkey and looked happier than we’ve seen her in months.
But one thing she wasn’t planning on was being a single mother and told the newspaper: ‘I wanted me and Adam to be a family forever. I wouldn’t have chosen to have a baby with someone if I didn’t think it would be forever.’
Adam still sees Eliza regularly on supervised visits though, she added, and Natalie wants him to be as involved as possible.
Speaking about their tumultuous relationship, she said: ‘People have called him a wife-beater but it wasn’t like that.
‘Sure, physical things happened, but I didn’t regularly get black eyes, or get punched around the room. It was shouting, abuse, name calling, more mental cruelty. And I can’t run the risk of going back to that life.’
Natalie admitted that perhaps they rushed into having a baby but she thought the relationship might have improved.
She admits that she still loves Adam and it is a magical thing to have a child with somebody.
‘Love doesn’t just go away, you can’t just erase it. But I know it can’t work out. There are too many issues. He has problems.
‘He is a complex person but he is a good person. He has a heart of gold, but he needs to learn from this experience. I hope he gets better in his life.’
The couple were set to marry later this year in a £50,000 ceremony but Natalie booted him out of their two-bedroom flat in Hertfordshire after their fight, which saw Adam 'punch a hole in a microwave oven'.
sourceThe former EastEnders star has lost three stone and says she’s happy being a size 10 and to pose again in a bikini.
But part of her weight loss has been down to the stressful break-up with Cottrell after the birth of their child.
Cassidy hit headlines in May after she had a huge bust up with her former fiancé Adam in front of their baby Eliza, 10 months old.
He later pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage and now has a restraining order under his name.
The stress of the split left Natalie unable to sleep or eat and her weight plunged to 9st 2lb.
She started smoking and turned to sleeping pills to numb the pain but soon stopped taking them as she didn’t want to be ‘spaced out’ .
After shedding weight following the split, Natalie, 28, told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I have been through the mill with weight.
But after pulling herself together and getting her health back on track she is now a healthy 9st 7lb.
‘I have been a size six, I’ve been a size 16 – bordering on an 18. But I am a size 10 now, and I feel that I am the weight I should be.’
She added that she had her breasts surgically enlarged to a D cup at the age of 22 when she was a bigger dress size but originally an A cup.
‘I am smaller all over now, so my boobs do look bigger – but I’m not complaining. Who moans about huge knockers and a tiny waist?’ she said.
Natalie says that she started exercising when Eliza was four months old and admits she works very hard to stay in shape because she piles on the pounds very easily.
She recently showed off her figure on a holiday in Turkey and looked happier than we’ve seen her in months.
But one thing she wasn’t planning on was being a single mother and told the newspaper: ‘I wanted me and Adam to be a family forever. I wouldn’t have chosen to have a baby with someone if I didn’t think it would be forever.’
Adam still sees Eliza regularly on supervised visits though, she added, and Natalie wants him to be as involved as possible.
Speaking about their tumultuous relationship, she said: ‘People have called him a wife-beater but it wasn’t like that.
‘Sure, physical things happened, but I didn’t regularly get black eyes, or get punched around the room. It was shouting, abuse, name calling, more mental cruelty. And I can’t run the risk of going back to that life.’
Natalie admitted that perhaps they rushed into having a baby but she thought the relationship might have improved.
She admits that she still loves Adam and it is a magical thing to have a child with somebody.
‘Love doesn’t just go away, you can’t just erase it. But I know it can’t work out. There are too many issues. He has problems.
‘He is a complex person but he is a good person. He has a heart of gold, but he needs to learn from this experience. I hope he gets better in his life.’
The couple were set to marry later this year in a £50,000 ceremony but Natalie booted him out of their two-bedroom flat in Hertfordshire after their fight, which saw Adam 'punch a hole in a microwave oven'.
