"Emily Atack's Triumph: How She's Embracing Her New Body After Jab Trolling – Plus, Her Thoughts on Weight!"

SHE spent years fighting against her sexy typecast image after rising to fame as Charlotte “Big Jugs” Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners – now the noticeably thinner Emily Atack has finally learnt to embrace her sex symbol status.

But for her second act, Emily is firmly in charge – as she proved posing with a whip for luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur this week – and she is taking things in a “classy direction” after finding love with a brainbox doctor.

Emily Atack looks very comfortable with her slimmer physique as she posed in lingerie for Agent ProvocateurCredit: Claire Rothstein Emily showing off her shrinking waistline on InstagramCredit: Instagram

In a move which would surely be met with approval from her social climbing Sarah Stratton character in the bonkbuster hit Rivals, the Sun can reveal the 36-year-old blonde’s reinvention is paying off.

Though her than M&S, Emily is set to become the face of the posh retailer after shooting a top-secret advert in South Africa last month.

The once-skint actress is rumoured to have pocketed £100,000 for the deal, which will see her appear alongside fellow household names and for the supermarket’s Rewards credit card.

The lucrative gig will not only cement the 36-year-old blonde as the face of middle England, but also the body, as she stripped down to a swimsuit and film scenes in the sun poolside in Cape Town.

Her professional renaissance has come at a time of personal reinvention.

Having been linked romantically to , and over the years, it was her , also her step-cousin, who finally wooed her with a settled home life and engagement ring. The pair also welcomed a baby boy called Barney in June 2024.

A source said: “Just a few years ago she was struggling financially, going from job to job and boyfriend to boyfriend, but it never worked out.

“Now she’s got the job of her dreams, her own little family, and she has learnt to love her body again.

“It’s a big two fingers up to her detractors.”

It’s quite the transformation for the former Inbetweeners star, who was lovingly referred to as “Big Jugs” by punters in the Streets and on the pages of Lads’ mags for years afterwards.

But her – where she looks very comfortable with her slimmer physique whilst posing in lingerie on the sofa of a stately home – has seen her once again drawn scrutiny for her changing figure.

An insider said: “Emily has remained tight-lipped on how she has slimmed down, but she feels confident in her post-baby body and is making the most of all the opportunities that come her way.

“When M&S offered her a handsome fee to jet her out first class to South Africa in dreary January to shoot their ad she jumped at the opportunity.

“Emily has gotten used to people being interested in her body over the years, and, as long as she feels confident in her skin, she is happy to show it off.”

The reaction on to her risque underwear shoot had most of her fans gushing, but some social media users were left speculating whether her slender frame had been achieved using weight-loss jabs.

One wrote: “Lay off the ,” while another penned: “Oh dear, another celeb on Mounjaro.”

Others have thrown her disappearing bust against her and even speculated it could jeopardise her buxom role in the , which earned her a nomination for a BAFTA TV memorable moment, thanks to her famous naked tennis scene.

A source said: “It has something she has to grow used to throughout her career but it does become tiresome. She loves her figure and that’s all that matters.”

PRESSURES TO LOSE WEIGHT

Having interviewed Emily many times over the years she has always been refreshingly honest and open about the pressure she has endured to lose weight in her industry.

Chatting to her at the 2017 Bafta Rising Star party, she told me: “There have been auditions where they’ve said nicely, ‘Would you be willing to go to the gym for this role?’ I find it so hard to lose weight, it takes me weeks and weeks of dieting and training just to lose three pounds.”

I remember another photoshoot we did in 2018, months before she took part in, she said: “I definitely feel the pressure to lose weight and be smaller than I am. In a normal world I would be happy with my body, but in the film industry it’s pressurised.

“I would like to see curvier women playing lead roles. My issue is that I love eating and I love wine. Going out for dinner and drinking wine with my friends is my favourite thing to do. Ultimately I will never cut anything out of my life that makes me happy.”

Her previous reluctance to lose weight will understandably raise suspicion about how she has managed to drop the pounds with ease this time around, but it is something she has had to contend with before.

She once said: ‘My whole life I’ve been judged for how I look. Which is part and parcel of being in the public eye, playing sexy roles and posing for lad’s mags, but I want people to like me for my personality and brain.
‘It’s not all about having the perfect body, perfect hair, perfect smile.’

Emily, pictured in 2023, appears to be cashing in on the huge interest surrounding her, and her curvesCredit: PA Emily Atack glowing in adorable family photos with baby Barney and boyfriend Alistair GarnerCredit: Instagram As well as her eye-popping shoot with Agent Provocateur, which dropped this week, The Sun can also reveal she shot a top-secret M&S advert

The daughter of actress and singer and musician Keith Atack, who had hits with his band Child in the seventies, meant showbiz always beckoned for Emily. She’s even related to who is her Grandmother’s cousin.

Emily landed the role of Charlotte, alongside actors , Joe Thomas, Blake Harrison, and James Buckley, in the teenage comedy when she was just 17.

It certainly brought her to the nation’s attention but it was a role that typecast her as she struggled to move away from the “sexy school girl” roles, admitting “nobody knew what to do with me”.

Emily discovered she was left without “interesting things to say” in roles, having appeared in ‘lads mags’ and shows with a ‘pin-up’ image.

Her stint on The Inbetweeners from 2008 to 2010 led to a long line of other work, ranging from stand-up comedy to acting but work was unstable and she had money troubles.

There have been auditions where they’ve said nicely, ‘Would you be willing to go to the gym for this role?’ I find it so hard to lose weight, it takes me weeks and weeks of dieting and training just to lose three pounds.

Emily Atack

She said: “I was a jobbing actress kind of going from job to job, I didn’t have enough money.”

“My career was always “almost” getting somewhere, I’d land a part in an amazing film, with an amazing cast [she’s previously worked with , Bill Nighy, Harvey Keitel and Gabriel Byrne]… and then nobody watched it. That happened four or five times in a row, with films I thought were going to change my life.”

Then in 2024, Rivals came knocking. The multi million pound adaptation by has made her a global sensation and is said to have bagged her a six-figure salary.

Undoubtedly it was a role she was destined to play, Emily revealed how producers specifically had her in mind for the role, which she embraced.

She said: “The breakdown for the characters said, ‘Think ‘, so they went, ‘Well, let’s just get Emily, then’.

“I still had to audition. I went in with all the get-up on and they thought I’d dressed up. I was actually just going to a bar afterwards.

“They were like, ‘Thank you so much for dressing as the role’. I was like, ‘No worries’.”

Emily’s role in the hit Eighties romp Rivals arrived in tandem and catapulted her to luvvie stardomCredit: disney+ Emily Atack as Charlotte in the Inbetweeners

Being cast in The Inbetweeners when she was just 17 years old Emily insisted on-screen nudity didn’t phase her thanks to her positive experiences on-set.

She said: “I honestly don’t even think about sex scenes. I’ve discovered throughout my career that the men get more nervous doing them than women. I’ve been lucky that every actor I’ve worked with has always been extremely respectful.”

Almost a decade later, during promotion for Rivals, Emily’s sentiments were unchanged. She said: “If you keep your clothes on you’re a frigid nun, if you take your clothes off you’re a tart. I’ve learned to take back the narrative – my sexuality, my body. It’s Jilly Cooper – it’s an honour to do it – and I had a great spray tan.”

Emily is reprising her role as glamorous Sarah, opposite Alex Hassell as Tory MP Rupert, in the second series of Rivals. Filming is nearly completed and is expected to drop later this year.

While she once feared being typecast as an actress, it is now something Emily embraces.

“I will carry on playing these sexy women for as long as they will have me,” she insists.