BARE TRUTH
Emily Atack says stripping for Rivals and playing naked tennis ‘was liberating’ as she joins ‘horniest new TV series’
The actress says 'intimacy coordinators' were present on set
EMILY Atack has lifted the lid on her role in racy new show Rivals and admitted she found stripping naked "liberating".
The actress, 34, is among the cast of the raunchy Disney+ series and fans are already going wild for it.
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Rivals is an adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 1988 novel and follows a group of characters as they vie for business and each other's affections in the cut throat world of independent television.
Emily plays the Deputy Prime Minister, Sarah Stratton, and can be seen playing naked tennis with gigolo Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black, played by Alex Hassell.
But the actress is not fazed by getting naked in front of the cameras, as it is all part of the job.
Speaking to Sky News about getting bare for her Rivals debut, Emily said: "It's so liberating.
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"Of course there are going to be people out there that take what you do and try and spin a negative narrative on it. I'm a woman, of course people are going to do that.
"But what I have to keep stressing to people is I'm exactly where I need to be. I'm at work, I'm playing a role, I'm very comfortable and I'm on a closed set.
"We have intimacy coordinators, I get on very well with my director, the crew, the actors and I'm very happy and comfortable.
"It's other people's characters that need to be looked at if they're going to twist it into some grotesque negativity."
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Emily rose to fame playing Charlotte 'Big Jugs' in Channel 4's The Inbetweeners.
Although she welcomed the role with open arms, Emily did find herself being stereotyped into "totty" roles in the years that followed.
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Emily also found herself being booked for lads' mags photoshoots, which in hindsight she has mixed feelings about.
"I was celebrating my youth and my sexuality in beautiful locations, wearing gorgeous underwear... and I f***ing loved it," Emily previously told The Guardian.
"It was great. I naively didn’t think what narrative was being painted for me."
Emily has since been praised by fans for being a ‘strong female role model’ for slamming online trolls and hitting back at the misogyny in her industry.
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The star is also now a mum-of-one after welcoming son Barney with boyfriend Alistair Garner in June.
Rivals is Emily's first big job on the small screen since becoming a parent and she's in good company.
The series stars a host of British TV favourites, including former EastEnders star Danny Dyer, Doctor Who's David Tennant, and Skins heartthrob Luke Pasqualino.
Dame Jilly Cooper is known for her kinky books and, although there is a lot of saucy scenes, body-confident Emily has defended their purpose.
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"We keep saying that the nudity and the sex scenes are a huge part of this but there's always a reason for them," she said.
"We're not just getting our kit off for no reason. They're very integral to the storylines and characters."
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