Forget Love Island, it looks like Sophie Monk has found a paradise of her own! In snaps released last week, the 38-year-old looks healthy and happy as she frolics in the European sun.
The TV presenter is currently filming a yet-to-be-named Channel Nine travel show in Portofino, Italy.
Keeping her company is best friend Oscar Gordon, who also accompanied her to Thailand for filming of The Bachelorette.
It appears the Italian lifestyle agrees with Sophie, as the blonde bombshell shows off her radiant, tanned curves in a floral blue bikini.
It’s a far cry from the gaunt figure which once had the nation fearing for her health.
Sophie has been candid about her struggles with body image over the years.
In 2017, the Gold Coast native told an Australian magazine that she had felt enormous pressure to be thin back when she was in the girl band, Bardot.
‘I definitely lost too much weight. I was tiny. There was a moment where [dieting] was all I thought about,’ she spilled to the publication.
‘Cameras are on you a lot, so [weight fluctuations are] a lot more dramatic – you’re going to go a bit more extreme with everything.’
Sophie revealed that the pressure only mounted when she moved to Hollywood to pursue acting and was faced with the scrutiny of auditions.
‘I ended up getting depressed. It’s a different and ugly world,’ she revealed.
In recent years, Sophie has made peace with her body and found a more balanced approach to health and fitness.
‘Some days I’m healthy, some days I’m not. No-one’s perfect, so don’t put pressure on yourself,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
‘You can still have the things you like if you work to make up for it and try to be healthy most of the time.’
The stint in Italy is likely a welcome change of pace for Sophie, who has had quite a tumultuous year.
In January, the star made headlines when she confirmed she had split with her on-screen The Bachelorette love Stu Laundy after months of speculation.
‘I don’t know how to explain this because it’s an unusual circumstance to be in,’ she wrote on Instagram at the time.
‘I gave it the best shot I could and my intentions were everything I said I was looking for but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out work out.’
Since then, she has been linked to a number of high-profile men, including Shane Warne and Ryan Gallagher from reality dating show, Married At First Sight.
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea, on sale now.
