Emily Atack says she has struggled with post-baby body confidence like her Rivals character who has gone from 'the sexy bombshell all the men fancied to changing nappies'

Emily Atack has admitted her Rivals character's story arc in series two has mirrored her own life and career after welcoming her first child.

As her hit Disney+ show returns after a midseason break, Emily's character Sarah Stratton is dealing with life as a new mother, as well as speculation about the identity of the baby's father and unease about her status at work. 

Off screen, Emily, 36, welcomed her first child, son Barney, in June 2024 and married her partner Alistair Garner in a lavish ceremony this summer, attended by her Rivals co-stars.

The Inbetweeners star has mused that it's been fascinating to see how Sarah has had similar body confidence issues to her own after becoming a mother.   

'I think she is definitely going through that insecurity, thinking, “Oh God I used to be the sexy bombshell and I would get all the jobs that I wanted and all the men fancied me, and now I'm changing nappies", Emily says of Sarah.

'And, you know, it’s what we all go through. We can all strive for body positivity and to embrace our motherly bodies and the stretch marks and all of that, but it's not as simple as that for everybody.'

'And again, I'm sort of half speaking as myself, half speaking on behalf of Sarah Stratton.'

Comparing Sarah's motherhood journey in the '80s to mums in the 21st century, Emily pointed out that 'in the ‘80s, there was no body positivity, there was no social media for people to create these communities of being positive'.

'It was just like, “You've got to be slim, you've got to be fit, you've got to be a housewife whilst also being a mother”. Those kind of more old-fashioned things.'

'So,I think it's interesting looking at how it was for women, for new mothers, from the ‘80s lens compared to now. Definitely.'

Asked what it was like to film with a baby bump, Emily gushed: 'I couldn’t believe that I just had Barney and then they said, "Sarah Stratton’s pregnant throughout this series" so I got put back into a baby bump.'

'It actually made a really good cushion for lunchtimes. I had to keep reminding myself that it was there because it was so comfy.'

Emily returned to Rivals filming 11 months after welcoming her son Barney. 

The star has had a busy year, shooting her hit show before marrying her partner in an intimate Bedfordshire-based church ceremony in August.

The newlyweds then hosted a big, glitzy wedding celebration in the stunning Spanish hilltop town of Mojacar with 200 guests including her Rivals castmates David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Victoria Smurfit and Rufus Jones.

Rivals returns on November 11 for the final episodes in its second series, and the residents of Rutshire are seeing out the season in style and scandal.

The new episodes pick up after the mid-series finale and the tragic death of Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook).

This time, the rivalries and romance are set against the backdrop of 1987 party season with glimpses of Bonfire Night chaos, the Hampshire Hunt Ball and a turbulent Christmas.

New cast members are also set to join the series return, with Rachael Stirling introduced as Araminta Pemberton, Lady Monica Baddingham’s vampish younger sister, Rupert Evans as erudite headmaster David Hawkley, and Santiago Cabrera  as Argentinian polo legend Alejandro Mendoza. 

The first three episodes of six will drop on Disney+ on November 11, with weekly releases of the remaining three episodes following after.