Stacey Solomon has reflected on being bullied in secondary school.
The Loose Women star, 31, says she felt "out of place" as a school kid as she began puberty "really young".
Mother-of-three Stacey says due to feeling like a "complete misfit" she started to become "naughty to fit in", which affected her throughout her education.
Stacey, who promotes body positivity as a Dove brand ambassador, bravely reflected on her younger years during a chat with body image expert Professor Phillippa Diedrichs on Instagram Live on Tuesday evening.
Opening up on being a school girl, she shared: “I went through puberty really young…and I just felt so out of place. I was a tall goofy, gangly, hairy girl. I just felt like a complete misfit.”
After receiving negative comments from other students in Year 7, Stacey said “I thought I’m not going to be one of the cool girls cause I’m not pretty enough, so I’ve got to be the class clown, it affected my whole school years. I’d be naughty to fit in, or I’d make jokes or try to be smart… I disregarded my whole appearance, as I thought, 'wow I’m ugly, no one is going to like me'."
After years of feeling like she did not belong, the Essex native says that if she could give her younger self advice, she would turn back the clock and say: "You are so much more than what somebody else labels you as… Just because one person says something to you it doesn’t define you. You have the ultimate power to be whoever the hell you want to be.”
In June, Stacy took herself off social media after feeling overwhelmed by despicable online trolling.
The star was left so "shocked" at the cruelty of digital bullies that she decided to put her phone away for the day.
It was not the first time she stepped away from social media, as back in May, she had fans worried as she told she'd be going offline for a while "for personal reasons."
Stacey announced: "I'm going to come off social media today for personal reasons.
"I really hope you're all OK. I love you all. Look after yourselves."