I was on Bake Off and cruel trolls mocked my fertility battle – it shattered my confidence, says Laura Adlington

GREAT British Bake Off star Laura Adlington has revealed how her confidence was left shattered after trolls mocked her fertility battle.

The baking show contestant - who rose to fame on the show in 2020 - revealed that nasty internet users would leave her hateful "personal" messages, which led her to a "low point".

Laura, 32, told how the abuse worsened in the run-up to the final of the Channel 4 show and how it nearly broke her.

Speaking on the  podcast, Laura said: "When it was all really kicking off was on the week of the final.

"People were just being awful and it was really personal stuff as well, like infertility and other personal things."

She went on to reveal: "People were saying things like, 'It was no wonder you can't have a baby'. It got really bad."

The star admitted that she never received counselling and support promised by Channel 4 despite the hateful backlash.

"I think after Bake Off, I really lost my confidence, because there was so much horribleness around it," she went on.

"And someone gave me some really bad advice, saying stay on Twitter because you might get work from it. But it was so bad for my mental health. It was awful."

Laura opened up earlier this year about her and her husband Matt struggling to fall pregnant.

"I remember crying in bed and being like, this would just be so much easier if I was not here, if I did not exist," Laura continued to open up. "That was a really low point for me."

Laura explained that the seven week process was "exhausting" and there was not enough support offered.

She said: "We filmed Bake Off it in a heatwave. I was seven weeks away from home. I was honestly mentally and physically exhausted.

"We didn't really have any support from the counsellors that they promised or anything and by the end of the filming, I was literally [left feeling] like I'm done. I don't even want to do it.

"I just cried so much but when I came out of Bake Off, it really knocked my confidence every time I was baking.

"I'd be like in the back of my head. I'd be like "you're sh**, you're sh**, you're sh**, you're sh**, you're sh**"'.

"I bake a bit now but not as much as I used to. I'd kind of lost my love for a little bit."

In January, Laura wore a bikini on the beach for the first time ever months after revealing the horrific abuse she'd received.

She embraced her body on holiday in Mexico with her husband Matt, and she looked over the moon to be doing so.

Standing proudly in the surf on a white sandy beach, she wrote on Instagram: "Today I wore a bikini on the beach for the first time ever.

"It’s not a perfect body but it’s mine, and I want to feel the sun on it."

Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood jumped in to defend her after previous social media attacks on her Instagram - calling trolls out as "disgusting".