Gemma Atkinson hits back at trolls who called her 'lazy and fat' after giving birth

Former Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson was forced to defend herself from trolls who described her as 'fat' and 'lazy' after she was pictured out with her mum and new baby.

Gemma and her fiancé Gorka Marquez welcomed their second child into the world last month, with Gemma announcing a few days later that the couple had decided to name their son Thiago.

Instagram/@glouiseatkinson

She has since been sharing snaps to keep fans updated on their family life, but it was while she was out running errands with her mum that a member of the paparazzi took the picture which caused a stir.

In a post on her Instagram story, Gemma explained: "Me and my mum were out the other day and a guy papped us - I had no issues, he was doing his job - but it was funny that everything in the article was very, very incorrect."

The Hollyoaks star explained that the article that published the picture claimed her and her mum were 'on a shopping spree', when really they were going to the doctors for steroid cream.

She said she looked like a 'bag of rags', and explained she was dressed in a maternity dress because she has scars from giving birth which 'rub'.

Instagram/@glouiseatkinson

Gemma continued: "My mum was pushing the pram because it's quite hilly where I live, I didn't want to overdo it up-hill. When I came out the doctors I was looking at the medication ingredients list on my phone to see if it would affect my breastfeeding and get in my bloodstream, you know what I'm like."

It was then that the star was papped, resulting in Gemma getting 'a lot of DMs' from people who had seen the photo with no knowledge of the context surrounding it.

She explained: "I've already had one today saying Thiago shouldn't be in the sun. I've had another saying how lazy I was letting my mum push the pram. I got another saying 'you used to be fit and you're still fat'.

Instagram/@glouiseatkinson

"So I was thinking, all of this was coming from an article which was completely untrue!"

Thankfully Gemma didn't take the comments to heart, and joked that her mum admitted she 'looked awful' after Gemma told her what had happened.

"She said she looked alright, but told me I looked awful," Gemma said.

The actor has received dozens of more positive comments from supportive fans after giving birth, with one fan describing her as 'superwoman', while another said she looked 'perfect', adding: "You should be so proud of yourself for being real!"

Can we all agree that the mum-shaming needs to stop?