Gemma Atkinson: 'This is my body. And I am proud of it!"
"THIS is ME. This is MY shape. This is MY body. And I am PROUD OF IT!"
Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson has taken to Instagram to share photos of her unedited, naked body in a bid to encourage others to love themselves.
"I hope this picture inspires woman to love their bodies & embrace every freckle, every inch, every muscle every curve & every bloody stretch mark on it! (Me included on the latter)," she wrote on the post.
The photos were taken for Women's Health UK's naked issue.
The 31-year-old said she said no when she was first asked to take part in the shoot but "jumped on board" after reading past issues and discovering why the magazine produces a naked issue every year.
"This issue is about woman being comfortable in their own skin.
"I'm in it along with 10 beautiful woman all of us different in physique, height, weight, you name it.
"The one thing we have in common is our mutual support for females," she wrote.
Gemma first hit the small screen as a teenager in Hollyoaks.
Since then she has transformed herself from pinup model to fitness fanatic, sharing photos and videos of her workouts on Instagram.
"YOUR body tells YOUR story. Some of you have even housed babies in there! Be proud! You are incredible. Don't forget it," she wrote.
