Ferne McCann "needed" to get healthy to save herself after making "some silly decisions".
The 29-year-old reality star has opened up on how her fitness regime helped her cope after her ex – with whom she has daughter Sunday – was arrested and charged for throwing acid onto a crowded dance floor in London, and then sentenced to 20 years in prison in November 2017, just two weeks after their baby girl was born.
She told The Sun Online: "Keeping healthy absolutely needed to happen or I wouldn’t have got through.
"I made some silly decisions in my twenties that I beat myself up about, but now I’ve realised that that is what your twenties are for. We all make mistakes early and we learn from them.
"I was giving a lot of time and effort to people that were not giving it back to me and I’ve stopped doing that now.
"Now I know myself, I know what I want and, more importantly, I know what I don’t want."
Now Ferne – who turns 30 on Thursday (06.08.20) – has overhauled her fitness and diet, and she stuck to the same regime even after giving birth to Sunday.
She said: "I couldn’t wait to get back to the gym as I knew how great it made me feel.
"People said I shouldn’t have rushed to get back into shape but it’s my right to want to feel good. I was so proud of what my body had been through."
The former ‘TOWIE’ star insisted she has a sugar addiction, and she is keen to make sure her young daughter doesn’t have the same issue.
She added: "I’m addicted to sugar and that comes from childhood as I always had sugar after I had a meal.
"I find myself rooting through the cupboards looking for old Christmas chocolates.
"But I was determined Sunday wouldn’t have that and I’ve made sure she eats lots of different healthy foods."