Emily Atack thought she was destined to be "unlucky in love" forever.
The 34-year-old TV star is now in a relationship with nuclear scientist Dr Alistair Garner and the pair have four-month-old son Barney together. But she admitted that just before it all happened for her, she had suffered from "very low self-esteem" and had resigned herself to the idea that it probably never would.
She told HELLO! magazine: "I thought I was always going to be that person who was unlucky in love, and I think once that narrative is painted, it's hard to break.
READ MORE: John Torode exposes truth behind feud with Gregg Wallace on Celebrity MasterChef
Click for more brilliant Daily Star showbiz stories
"I'm a very confident person, but I've had very low self-esteem in the past, forming bad patterns and habits. And then I got to a point where I was just like, maybe that's never going to happen for me. And then it just did."
But the Rivals actress - who shot to fame as Charlotte Hinchcliffe on The Inbetweeners and later came runner up on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! - joked that it is "quite funny" when she and her significant other compare their days at work, although she is pleased that she has found someone who "understands" the way her career works.
She said: "So, comparing our days is quite funny. I'm like, ‘What did you do today? How are the nuclear reactors?’ And he’s like, ‘yeah, good, how about you?’
"And I say, ‘I tried to fit into some Spanx, and I couldn't.’ So, in that way, we couldn't be more polar opposite, but we are so similar. We have the same sense of humour and find the same things hilarious.
"I'm glad I’ve ended up with somebody who knows me so well and understands me completely and understands my life and my world."
English (US) ·