Olivia Bowen has opened up about her pregnancy journey, explaining she feels like 'a totally different person' since becoming a mum-to-be.
Olivia, 28, and husband Alex Bowen, 30, announced they were expecting their first child together at the start of the year, with the Love Island couple set to welcome their new arrival in June.
The loved-up pair first met during season two of the reality show, and tied the knot in 2018.
Over the last few months, Olivia, 28, has spoken openly her pregnancy journey on social media and candidly shared both the highs and lows of expecting a baby.
Speaking to Tyla, Olivia described the last few months as a 'rollercoaster'.
Advert
"[In the past] I'd never felt so maternal, I never thought this was a road I would be so excited to be going down. I was a party animal and a horse rider, and when I became pregnant I had to stop some of that and it is quite a hard transition," she says.
"Obviously you do it with a huge grin on your face because you’re about to have a baby and that’s massive, but it is such a big change and people underestimate what you go through mentally and as a person.
"I’ve literally felt like a different human, and it’s a lot to take on, especially for someone like me who has struggled with anxiety and depression.
"It’s scary to see yourself change and you do question a lot... Sometimes people are scared to speak about it because they're scared to be judged, when really we all should be there for each other because it’s such a rollercoaster."
Advert
Only a couple of years ago, Olivia spoke candidly about worries over her fertility after being diagnosed with an underactive thyroid.
"I got diagnosed when I was 10. Back then I was good with it, I always took my medication. Whereas now, where I've got really busy in the last four years, it has taken a bit of a backseat," she said on Steph's Packed Lunch at the time.
"I have a lot of people asking me, when are you going to have kids, when do you want to get pregnant? In the back of my head, I'm like 'can I?'"
Advert
An underactive thyroid gland (or hypothyroidism) is where your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough hormones. Common symptoms include tiredness, weight gain and feeling low.
Olivia previously explained the couple were trying for two months before she fell pregnant, and recently revealed the adorable moment she shared the news with Alex.
"I’m really excited, I've wanted to be a dad for a while now," Alex tells us.
Advert
"I spoke about it with Liv when we first got together six years ago."
And although Olivia and Alex never expected to meet the 'love of their life' in the villa, Olivia says she's 'so grateful' she did.
"There is a clip online of me saying I don’t think I'll ever get married or have kids - the thing is I was such a different person then, I was 22 and I went in for fun," she says.
"You don’t expect to meet the love of your life. I was so young, I didn’t see my life going that way but I'm so grateful it did."
Advert
When it comes to whether the pair will let any future children watch their series of the show when they're older, they agreed: "We might edit the clips they watch, they can watch some of it maybe. Definitely clips in there that would be lovely for them to watch. They'd probably just cringe at us."
The couple have recently teamed up for C&G baby club's #LoveDon’tJudge, to raise awareness around the damaging effects of parental judgement - something Alex and Olivia have both experienced.
"Alex was judged for DJ'ing when that’s his job," Olivia tells us.
"I remember the first one I had, I posted in underwear and someone was like ‘you can’t do that anymore’. Do they want me to wear none?! It’s just silly.
"There’s a lot of stigma around birth and how painful it is and that it’s going to be terrible and you get all these horror stories. I don’t know why we all feel the need to scare each other about it, we’re all scared anyway!"
Alex adds: "You learn on the job when you have a kid... that’s what the whole campaign is about, giving constructive advice and not judgement."
You can find more information on the campaign here.
Lucy Devine