Last week, Kate Upton appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” where the celebrity moms candidly talked about pregnancy struggles, postpartum, breastfeeding, and body positivity.
Upton and Clarkson found many things common when they discussed breastfeeding. They agreed, “Pumping is the worst,” with the first American Idol winner adding, “It’s so painful, I don’t care what anyone says.”
Clarkson recalled how someone threw away her bottle with some breast milk left in it while she was breastfeeding at work. She said, “I went in my closet and just collapsed on the floor and was crying. I was like, ‘You have no idea how hard I worked for that!’”
She continued, “And really, there was like nothing in the bottle; I’m crazy. But, literally, it’s just a hormonal period. I don’t think people take that into account, especially when we’re women in the public eye. It is a hard time.”
Upton added, “Our energy is literally being sucked out of us. So you don’t feel like yourself. It is so difficult and something people need to talk about more.”
Talking more about breastfeeding, Upton admitted that she was still breastfeeding during the cover shoot for Health’s September issue. She revealed that she freaked out since it was stressful for everybody on set. She was a bit concerned about her glam team that knew there would be little to no opportunity to edit minutest details in the photos, such as bruise on her leg.
Upton continued, “We’re on Instagram all the time, and we see people Photoshopping everything. When does it end? When you’re scrolling on Instagram, you constantly compare yourself to these other people, and for me, I wanted us to take a step back and show a real moment of someone who is actually six months postpartum and be that real person and real influence for other people.”
Clarkson pointed out that Upton had to regularly receive unfair comments on her body even before the cover shoot for Health magazine.
Upton said, “When (the criticism) was first happening, it was really hard. I was like, ‘I work out all the time, why is everyone calling me fat?’”
The Other Woman actress explained that these days, the conversation about body shaming has completely changed. She added, “That just shows how the industry’s changing, how our voice matters, and things can change. We mean something. We can change something.”
Upton said she was inspired by Health magazine and initiated #ShareStrong on Instagram to encourage body positivity. She told Clarkson, “It’s so great to go on that hashtag and get inspiration from all these other women because we’re so strong, and to be able to share in each other’s strength is what makes women so amazing.”
The Layover actress said that her #ShareStrong is her daughter, “I want to be the example that she can look up to, and I want to create a happy, healthy world for her to grow up in.”
Talking about postpartum, Upton said, “We should be admiring our bodies that we even created life.” She said it is important to bounce back after pregnancy. Clarkson said, “People don’t realize… there’s so much going on after you have a baby. Not only has your body just given up, but your emotional state is kind of crazy.”
