CARING for a baby is a hard enough job without thousands of people offering comments on your parenting skills.
Just ask Amy Hart, who like many fellow Love Island stars is regularly forced to hit back at petty critiques of how she raises her little boy Stanley.
For years, contestants on the hit ITV2 reality show - who go through gruelling diets and exercise regimes to get in shape - have grown used to trolls targeting them over their fluctuating weight as they adjust to normal life after the villa.
But now Amy says even her baby's appearance has become a controversial topic as she and Love Island favourites like Molly-Mae Hague face being cruelly 'mum-shamed' by complete strangers.
In a candid interview with The Sun, the 31-year-old - who welcomed Stanley on March 3 last year with husband-to-be Sam Rason - says she has found happiness as a mum by learning to drown out the noise and adopting a "healthy" life for her and her son.
“At the beginning, I got a lack of flack for allegedly over-feeding Stanley,” Amy says.
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“People kept telling me I was feeding him too much because he's a huge baby. He's massive, but he's always been a big baby.
“He was eight pounds when he was born. He's in the 91st percentile, so he's taller and bigger than most babies his age.
“It did use to worry me, but eventually I decided that if he was telling me he was hungry, who was I to say no?”
Thankfully, Amy's decision to trust her little one, not followers online, saw a nurse congratulate her at his yearly check-up for a "perfectly healthy", bouncing baby.
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The new mum was told he was perfectly healthy and exactly the height and weight they expected him to be at one-year-old.
While Amy does get the occasional criticism from fans, she has learned to take it with a pinch of salt.
She said: “I used to share that Stanley is a lazy baby and takes after his lazy mum.
“I don't see that as a negative. He was sleeping through the night and eating properly at a young age. I was very lucky.
“But I kept getting comments saying 'don't call your baby lazy that's so mean'. I wasn't being mean, he just likes to sleep all day which is a bit lazy.
“On the flip side, if I'd been posting about how well he sleeps, I'd have got flack for alienating other mums whose babies don't sleep.
“At the end of the day I'm not a parenting advice page, I'm not the NHS. I'm just sharing my experience with my baby.”
Coping with trolls
Since leaving the villa, Amy has adopted a full-proof method for dealing with trolls - blocking and using comment filters.
It means that the majority of her online community is positive and offers well-intentioned criticism.
But she's found that outside of her social media bubble, the public can still be cruel about how she's changed since 2019.
When the mum was announced as the host of the Love Island podcast for the All Stars series, she was hit with a barrage of abuse.
Trolls commented on photos shared by the Love Island team announcing her casting, saying things like “why is Amy so bloated,” and “didn't recognise Amy at all.”
“Some people commented, 'Oh my god I didn't recognise her, she's put on so much weight' which was not nice to read,” she says.
“They'd seen me five years ago on TV when I was conscious I would be on national TV, so of course I'd made an effort to look my best.
“I was 57kg (8.9st). I was tiny. Looking at pictures now and I'm like 'Jesus Christ'.
“I'm never going to get back there. I'm five years older, and I've had a baby.”
Healthy mindset
Amy says she is happiest at around 64kg (10st), and has been embracing her fuller figure online as well.
In a candid Instagram post, she admitted to using Stanley as a “prop to cover myself” but decided to through caution to the wind with some holiday snaps of herself looking gorgeous in a red bikini.
I'm never going to get back there. I'm five years older, and I've had a baby
Amy Hart
“Everyone feels comfortable at different weights and right now I feel happy,” she tells us.
“I've decided I'll wear the clothes that make me happy because I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.
“I do what I can to stay healthy because that is the greatest gift I can give Stanley, but I still enjoy things in moderation.
“I do love fast food - if I could eat it for three meals a day I would. I'd have lunch and two dinners which would be McDonald's, KFC and Wingstop. But I don't.
“I prioritise being healthy because that's the most important thing I can do as a mum.”
Family dream
The reality star has loved her first year as a mum and hopes to add to the family as soon as she has tied the knot.
Amy jokes that she would happily have ten children, but it is more likely that her and Sam will aim for four, as they have started later than she wanted.
She has always been open about wanting a family and in 2021 chose to freeze her eggs so she had options, no matter her age.
Amy decided to have the procedure, which set her back £15,000, because doctors warned her she was heading towards early menopause, and she wanted to make sure she could have her own kids in the future.
At the time she said: "I’ve managed to freeze five eggs….not as many as I had hoped, and it certainly wasn’t the easy road I was expecting but it’s done, and my little safety net is in place.
"Anyway, I think the way the universe works is that now I’ve spent all that money I meet the love of my life and have 6 kids naturally, yeah?"
If we weren't getting married after having Stanley I'd have been churning out a new baby every ten months
Amy Hart
Just a few months after the emotional post, she found businessman Sam.
The pair got engaged in September 2023 and naturally conceived Stanley, meaning her frozen eggs have yet to be touched.
"I think I'd go to any lengths I could to get a second," she says.
"I'd do IVF with my eggs, with donor eggs, surrogacy, artificial insemination - all of that.
"After that, whatever happens, happens. I say that, but maybe you'll be interviewing me in years to come when I'm having IVF for my fifth child.
"If we weren't getting married after having Stanley I'd have been churning out a new baby every ten months.
"Whatever I do to have my second, I'll share the journey because I think it's so important to be honest about things.
"So many women struggle with fertility and I think talking about it in real time with so important."
Big wedding bash
Before Amy welcomes another addition to the family, she has got her four-day wedding extravaganza.
The pair have decided to tie the knot in sun-soaked Spain as it's a place they both feel totally relaxed.
And their guests are set to have an incredible time as the happy couple are covering the costs of something on each of the days.
"People were always going to have to travel so why not get married abroad?" she says.
"We picked somewhere with a range of flights and accommodation options plus we're covering as much as we can out there."
Guests will get treated to a BBQ on the first night, sangria and paella on the second, a free bar on the wedding day and then a pool party the day after.
"We did initially ask the venue if they'd do a cash bar and they absolutely refused," Amy says.
"In Spain a free bar for about ten hours is standard, and it cost a lot less than we expected. They seemed shocked that we'd invite our nearest and dearest to our wedding and expect them to pay for anything.
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"They couldn't wrap their heads around that being normal in an English wedding.
"And it's not just house wine and beers that they can get, it's everything. It'll be an amazing time."
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiWWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXN1bi5jby51ay90di8yNzI0OTQwNS9sb3ZlLWlzbGFuZC10cm9sbHMtYW15LWhhcnQtYmFieS1tdW0tc2hhbWVkLXdlZGRpbmcv0gFdaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlc3VuLmNvLnVrL3R2LzI3MjQ5NDA1L2xvdmUtaXNsYW5kLXRyb2xscy1hbXktaGFydC1iYWJ5LW11bS1zaGFtZWQtd2VkZGluZy9hbXAv?oc=5
2024-04-12 11:19:09Z
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