Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha is loved for her upbeat personality, hilarious social media videos, and open nature. HELLO! sat down with the 58-year-old to talk body acceptance, having a small circle of friends and how she winds down after a long day.
Anyone who follows Nadia on Instagram will be aware of her tongue-in-cheek lingerie and swimwear videos, in which she looks incredible and confident too. But she says this hasn't always been the case.
"When I was younger, I appeared more confident," she told HELLO! "I was cockier and louder, but it was all to hide the fact that inside I was absolutely horrible to myself. Nobody has ever been as horrible to me in my life as myself. Nobody can be as nasty to me as I have been.
"Trolls don't bother me. I've had that argument with myself and now I'm at peace."
© Photo: RexNadia Sawalha has reached a place of body acceptance
Nadia reached peace through therapy, mainly CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), which helped her come to a place of body acceptance, leading to self-confidence.
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"Confidence is an ever-changing thing. I say to my daughters: 'You don't wake up confident. You're not going to suddenly feel confident, you can be confident in some things and lack confidence in others.'
"For me, it's an ongoing conversation. Three days ago I might have felt really positive about myself and maybe in two days' time, I won't.
"It has come with age, self-reflection and a lot of brutal honesty," Nadia confides. "When voices pop up in my head to tell me I'm not good enough, I try and rebalance them and it has made me so much happier because I'm not wasting time on negativity. I'm using that time for better things.
© Photo: RexNadia Sawalha credits CBT with helping her reach body acceptance
Nadia says that time with her two teenage daughters Maddie, 20, and Kiki-Bee, 14, keeps her happy, as does her husband Mark Adderley, with whom she shares a YouTube channel, keep her happy. Working together even keeps their relationship alive.
"What I love about us working together is what I love about our relationship at the same time. We really challenge each other and we complement each other.
"We're very smart people and he's very highly educated academically, and there's nothing he doesn't know about, whereas I'm older and I'm a woman. I'm more emotionally intelligent so we balance each other well."
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"We still really fancy each other, and we find each other interesting and funny and that's what also enabled us to make really good content together," Nadia continues.
Having close relationships with her family, including her sister Dina, with whom she has recently launched a cooking series with on their YouTube, means Nadia doesn't feel the need for a huge circle of friends.
© Photo: InstagramNadia and her husband Mark Adderley share a YouTube channel
"I don't have loads of friends. People always assume because I'm quite out there that I've got hundreds of friends, but I only really see people that I really, really like, in a smaller circle."
Nadia Sawalha's workout routine
Nadia also credits her exercise routine for enhancing her upbeat nature, regularly sharing insights into her workout with her followers. She hasn't always had a good relationship with exercise, though.
"I wasted so much of my adult life hating exercise," she admits. "My main tip for enjoying exercise is to never think, 'How is this going to make me look?' Because I really believe as long as you're concentrating on how it will make you look, you won't enjoy exercise.
© Photo: InstagramNadia doesn't think about how exercise will make her look
"Instead, think about 'how is it going to make me feel?' and then a side effect will be that it will improve the way you look. I wish I understood this 30 years ago.
"If I don't want to go to the gym, I don't think about how much worse I'll look. I just think, 'If I don't go, I'm not going to feel as good as last week.
"Exercise can be anything, but you've got to enjoy it. If it's just walking that you like, then walk. Don't let anyone say, 'Walking is not enough, you should be running.'"
© Photo: InstagramNadia lost weight during lockdown
Nadia Sawalha's weight loss
Nadia also shared how she slimmed down unintentionally during lockdown, explaining: "At one point in the pandemic I used to go into the laundry room, put my Air Pods in, and dance for 20 minutes because it was fun, and I looked so slim because I wasn't thinking about the way exercising made me look."
Nadia Sawalha's wellness secrets
As a busy mum, juggling two teenage daughters with a hectic career, me-time is vital to Nadia, who revealed she loves her infrared sauna blanket.
"I get into that blanket and nine times out of 10, I just drift off and nobody can interrupt me.
"I tell them what I'm doing, and occasionally they open the door and snigger because it looks so silly but I'm really, really loving it and it has loads of health benefits.
"The other thing that's really become my thing to do during me-time is listening to documentaries on my AirPods.
"At one point last year, Mark said: 'I literally don't feel like you live here anymore,' because I'd become obsessed and listened to them all the time.
© Photo: InstagramNadia uses her AirPods for alone time at home
"It truly is just for me because nobody can talk to me when I'm listening. It's so wonderful because that's your own time in the house."
Watch Nadia's YouTube channel here
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