was when Spenny and I went for a run and
I did my first ever 10K,’ she shares, smiling.
‘I didn’t think I’d be able to do it... but he’s a
real encourager.’ On particularly schedule-
light weeks, there might be time for a Boom
Cycle spin or Kobox class, too. It’s a fitness
routine markedly different from her pre-
Theodore days, when weights were heavy
and cardio only featured in short, sharp
bursts. ‘Before I was pregnant, I felt strong
but not fit,’ she explains. ‘Since having
him, I’ve become more fit, definitely.’
It’s refreshing to hear a woman talk
about motherhood having an actively
positive impact on athleticism. But not
everyone sees it like that. After Vogue
had navigated her perma-nauseous first
trimester – ‘for the first 15 [weeks], I wasn’t
able to [work out as] I was so ill’ – she felt
a renewed interest in training differently
as her body progressed through pregnancy.
‘My body was sore, your hips are killing
you,’ she recalls. ‘The only thing that gave
me relief was going for a walk or going to
the gym.’ After posting Instagram updates
from spin and barre classes and tennis
lessons, Vogue was inundated withmessages accusing her of putting undue
pressure on other mums. ‘I used to get
comments off people saying, “I think it’s
a disgrace, you need to be relaxing, you’re
pregnant, you need to take the next 10
months off!” But that doesn’t suit me or
my lifestyle or the way I feel about myself,’
she says defiantly. ‘I train a lot for anxiety;
it makes me feel good and I like it. It’s
a hobby, so giving that up when I was
pregnant? I was never going to do it.’
Vogue insists there was no need for a
dramatic nutritional overhaul during or
after pregnancy, either. ‘People are always
like, “What diet are you on? I’ve been on
this juice diet for two weeks,” and it’s like,
dude, that’s so bad for you. You’re going to
lose six kilos and then you’re going to put
them back on. You have to just do it the
harder way, which is actually the easier way
in the end,’ she says. With the exception of
an array of breakfast porridge appendages
that would make Ella Mills say ‘enough,
already’ (frozen desiccated coconut: you
heard it here first), Vogue’s daily fare isnothing to write home about. But we will anyway.
Oatcakes and hummus mid-morning followed by
an on-the-go sandwich or sushi for lunch, then a
protein-heavy dinner like chilli con carne with corn
on the cob or steak with a side of vegetables. Would
she ever consider going vegan? ‘No, I mean, sometimes
I eat three animals in a day,’ she laughs.WO RDS HU R T
Vogue’s no stranger to public criticism, but the
comments on her pregnancy training particularly
stung. ‘People were assuming that I was doing
something harmful,’ she continues. ‘[But] I spoke to my
doctor, I spoke to my trainer [prenatal and postnatal
specialist Rosie Stockley] and I absolutely should be
doing [these types of exercise] if I’m able to.’ Vogue felt
the pressure of the post-baby body police, too. ‘Therewas one [article] like, “I pity her for having to get back
into shape so quickly after a baby,” and it’s like, I didn’t
have to get back into shape. Who am I getting back into
shape for?’ she says, exasperated. ‘Don’t waste your pity.
I don’t model any more. There’s, like, zero pressure
for me to get back into shape. I just got back training.’
Under the guidance, again, of her doctor and Stockley.
We’re talking about the broader concept of influence
now: ‘I’m very, very careful about who I work for and
what I would be promoting,’ she says, earnestly. ‘At
least I’m of an age where I can see through the bullshit
of an appetite-suppressing lollipop, but younger people
and my younger self probably would have been like,
“Oh my God! That’s the best way to lose weight...don’t
eat breakfast, just have this meal replacement shake!’
With a more mature take on such easy sells comes
judgement on those who peddle them. ‘I just don’t
understand it with [the Kardashians], because you’ve
got so much money and you know that’s absolute
bullshit,’ she continues. ‘Do you want your daughter
taking something like that? Absolutely not!’ That’s
not to say that Vogue doesn’t have her own regrets
and missteps. There have been paid endorsements
for ‘pre-workout’ formulas that claim to increase fat-
burn and public words written in anger without due
consideration. ‘Now, if I’m having an argument with
someone, I’m like, I’m not going to talk to you now for
24 hours, and then the difference you feel – even in
the space of an hour...’ she reflects. ‘I catch myself.’When I ask Vogue about her
decision to feature Theodore
not only on the couple’s TV
show, but across her social
feeds, too, she frowns in a
nonplussed, why-is-this-even-
a-thing manner. ‘We didn’t
even really go back and forth
about [the decision],’ she
replies, going on to talk about
a documentary she filmed
shortly before the birth, in
which she met a family who
share everything online, and
she discussed the matter with
them. ‘Then I thought, like, do
you know what, I’m going to
want to share pictures of him.
You’re just so proud of them,
you just want to put [them] up.’
Without prompt, she continues:
‘To be honest with you, I don’t
really think it’s damaging, you’ve
just got to be careful about what
you post. Like, I would be very
careful about what goes up [on
my Instagram] of him and, with
regards to the TV show, I mean,
he’s in it so minimally. I’d still
do it again with him, do you
know what I mean? It’s our life,
it’s part of our life, it’s not really
a massive deal.’MI N D MA N A G E ME N T
Vogue’s set-up now is markedly
happier than a few years ago,
when, following her 2015
split from Westlife’s Brian
McFadden, she sought
prescription beta blockers to
dull the physical manifestations
of anxiety. ‘I kind of like
knowing that I do have a few
of them left,’ she admits, now
sitting opposite me in a pub off
Battersea Park drinking a cup
of builder’s. ‘If I ever have a
really bad day, I can take one of
them.’ When do bad days strike?
‘When my schedule gets super
busy. I almost bring it on myself
by stressing myself out, by‘I train a lot for anxiety; it makes me
feel good – so why would I give that
(^30) up when I was pregnant?’
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