'Since becoming a mother and entering into my thirties, I'm certainly more aware of the things that bring joy in a much more meaningful way,' Rosie Huntington-Whiteley tells us. Nestled in the sun-drenched window seat of a London townhouse to shoot the latest episode of Beauty Truths, the ELLE UK cover star, supermodel and beauty entrepreneur can only be described as radiant.
With her golden blonde 'Rachel Green' hair, the knitted Khaite dress in the ecru colour palette that's become her wardrobe calling card, and of course, that face, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the British star is perfection incarnate. But, there's far more to the self-described 'introvert/extrovert' than the tabloids would have you believe. 'When you're thrust onto a red carpet, or you're walking down the street and there's half a dozen paparazzi in front of you, I find it really uncomfortable and nerve-wracking,' she reveals.
From feeling stressed throughout lockdown ('I lock myself in my bathroom for a good hour and call my mum'), to dealing with being in the public eye ('Jason and I get photographed together and we're not putting on this "public display of affection" and people are like "What's wrong with them?"') and managing her adult acne ('I've always had acne prone skin... and there's been periods of time when it does really get me down'), the Rose Inc. founder isn't afraid to open up about her anxieties.
When it comes to pregnancy and being a new mum, Huntington-Whiteley is as admirably honest. 'For me there was so much anxiety and nerves around having a baby... I just didn't feel comfortable talking about something that was happening so rapidly to me,' she says. Although the public scrutiny might not be something most mothers can relate to, the changes to your body that pregnancy brings are universal.
But, when your body is a large part of your job, how does having a baby fit in? 'I don't know if I was really that excited about any of the changes that my body went through, but when that bump starts to show and it's in full bloom, even though it was a completely different identity and body change from what I was used to, it was a confidence in a different way...,' she recalls.
'What I really had to learn was things weren't going to be the same as before and I had to embrace those things... I created our son and I look at him and ultimately the stretch marks and the things that go south were kind of worth it!'
Watch Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's full Beauty Truths story in the video at the top of this article.
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