Shilpa Shetty recalls getting body-shamed during pregnancy: ‘It was absolutely heartless’

B-Town diva Shilpa Shetty is known as one of the fittest stars in the industry, making sure to shed all the extra kilos and motivating others to do the same.

However, when her body went through the natural process of childbirth, the actor had to face body-shaming at the hands of other women.

Opening up about her struggle of weight gain during that time when she was pregnant with her son Viaan, Shilpa told Pinkvilla that she had put on 32 kilograms.

“I had put on 32 kilos during my pregnancy. Ideally, I thought I’d gain around 15 kilos but I had double that weight. And after delivering Viaan, I put on two more kilos which was ridiculous. I don’t know how I did that,” she said.

“So I remember this one incident when I went out with Raj for dinner for the first time after having Viaan. We walked in and there was this group of women at a kitty, sitting and smirking at me. I could hear them say, ‘Is that Shilpa Shetty? She still has weight!’ It was absolutely heartless,” she added.

She revealed further how her mother helped her get back on track. “My mother is known for her straight talk. One day, she just asked me, ‘When are you planning to lose the weight?’”

Back in 2016 after giving birth to her son, she had opened up about her body image, in a piece written for Hindustan Times.

“Till I had my child, I had no idea about how much your body can transform. As an actor, you have a certain image. Mine was that of a glamorous icon. But when I had my baby, my body changed. That celebrity image was shattered completely. It was quite unsettling. Viaan is the centre of my world, and at that point, nothing was going to take away from me the happiness of motherhood,” she said.