Former Home and Away star Esther Anderson has revealed the secret to looking half her age.
The 40-year-old model and actress spoke to New Idea from her Los Angeles home about raising her 11-month-old son, Forest, keeping fit and making it big in the fiercely competitive world of Hollywood.
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But despite her success, our homegrown Summer Bay alum admits she often does miss being back home in Australia.
“There’s so much opportunity [here in LA] and this is where my husband [Howard Moggs] and I met, but there are just certain little things that I miss about home,” Esther says.
“There is still a part of me that would love to be close to my family, and Howard is definitely open to living in Australia at some point.
“I think Australia’s always going to have my heart.”
Esther was launched into stardom with a five-year stint playing ‘hot cop’ Charlie Buckton on the popular show. She then took the plunge and made the big move across to the United States in 2012, after departing Summer Bay.
The brunette beauty has since landed roles in a range of projects including TV series Glow and films Apple Seed and Madness in the Method.
“My mum still watches Home and Away religiously, so when I’m home it’s on and I love it,” Esther laughs.
“It’s going to have such a special place in my heart forever. It launched my acting career and I loved the role.”
Following a brief hiatus from acting to look after her baby son, Esther is keen to dip her toes back in the water.
“It’s an exciting time, Forest is doing really well and I’ve got a couple of films about to come out, so it’s kind of a nice time to get into it a bit more,” she says.
A career in front of the cameras means Esther exercises regularly and eats well to maintain a flawless physique.
Her incredible bikini body is a product of a lot of hard work and dedication.
“Admittedly, after Forest was born, I did tell my agent I wasn’t going to do any more lingerie or swimwear shoots, because I didn’t think my skin would be firm again,” Esther confesses.
“But once I started doing a bit more core work for my back and stomach and started really focusing on eating well again, it was fine.”
Her day on a plate consists of a healthy breakfast of muesli and berries, lunch is sardines on gluten-free toast with tomato and avocado, while she tends to indulge a little during dinner.
To transform her post-baby body, Esther credits SoulCycle, stairs and running around after little Forest – whom she describes as the “light of her life”.
“We’re so in love with him it’s not funny. We still look at each other and pinch ourselves that he’s our son,” Esther says happily.
“Howard’s been incredible from the start and he always said it was really important for us to have date nights, so we made it a priority to get a babysitter once a week so we can have a date night.”
Geelong-born Esther had her first-born in her late 30s, making her journey to motherhood that much more special.
She also revealed baby number two is definitely a possibility in the future.
“I always wanted to have children, since forever. So I was just waiting for the right man. Howard was on the same page and he really wanted kids as well, and we feel really blessed that it happened for us,” she adds.
“We’d love to [have more]. We’ll see what the universe holds. We’d definitely love to if it’s possible, for sure.”
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