EXCLUSIVE: 'I'm really happy in my own skin, it's other people who aren't happy': Rebecca Ferguson displays her curvy post-pregnancy body at gig because she's in no rush to lose baby weight
She's back on the music scene with a jazzy new album and a sweet baby to look after.
But Rebecca Ferguson has made it clear that she's spending this time to enjoy singing, her baby daughter Arabella, and not getting hung up about losing her pregnancy weight.
'I'm really happy in my own skin, it's other people who aren't happy,' Rebecca exclusively tells MailOnline.
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She's happy! Rebecca Ferguson exclusively tells MailOnline that she's in no rush to ditch her post-pregnancy curves
'People say "Oh, Becky don't you want to lose a few pounds", and I'm like "I'm really content, I'm the happiest I've ever been". It's funny how the world [perceives] how you should be after pregnancy now, they think you should snap back into shape especially if you're in the public eye.
'I say it's OK to enjoy your baby.'
The singer gave birth to her third child, daughter Arabella, last October though the father of the child ended the relationship and shunned his parental responsibilities.
Having fun: The singer performed her new album Lady Sings The Blues, a tribute to Billie Holliday at London's St James Theatre on Monday night
New mum: Rebecca gave birth to her third child, a daughter Arabella, last October
But making the album, a compilation of classic Billie Holiday tracks, turned out to be a cathartic experience for Ferguson.
'It was really positive thing for me to do while I was having my daughter. It was a nice escape and a great way for me to channel my emotions,' she says.
'Having a baby has changed me as a person as I'm not interested in going out with the girls. I think all new mothers are like that really, it goes on the back seat. I think Arabella has completed me she made me grow up, she made me value myself.
No messing: Rebecca tells MailOnline, 'I'm really happy in my own skin, it's other people who aren't happy'
'It was a sad time as most people know. but it also made me realise what I want in life.'
But raising a new baby, two young children, and managing a music career is not without it's difficulties and Rebecca says that 'the logistics' certainly have changed since when she had children the first time.
Now the priority of losing weight has dropped down on her list of importance.
'I'm not bothered,' Rebecca explains, 'I feel like I'm tired as it is. I've got a newborn baby, I'm juggling motherhood and my career if I started to really starve myself I wouldn't be able to do my job.
Different mindset: The singer says this time around, the priority of losing weight has dropped down on her list of importance
Glamorous: Rebecca wore a Suzanne Neville gown with Christian Louboutin heels for the jazzy performance
Stepped up: Karl Dures, the father of Rebecca's older children has said he will be a parent to her daughter Arabella
'I feel like I've got to be a role model. It's OK to just enjoy yourself. [Babies] take nearly a year to make, it's going to take nearly a year to get back into shape.
Rebecca continues: 'There's a pressure from society. I had that when I was carrying Lillie and Karl. I went on diets and at one point I got down to a size 6 and my mum says "Becky, stop it".
'At that time I shouldn't have been focused on my body I should have been focused on my lovely little bundles of joy. And I think its OK to want to be healthy; I eat organic, I eat fish, vegetables, but you've got to balance happiness and wanting to look good.'
As well as her little girl, getting to cover Billie Holiday for her new album has brought Rebecca even more happiness though it didn't come without pressure.
'I did feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders,' the Liverpudlian explains, 'I wanted it to be perfect, we worked hard, we spent a full year perfecting it.'
'[Billie] was a project when I was 15, I remember sitting there in the library going through book after book, and when you're that age you don't really appreciate older singers.
'But I remember looking at the pictures of her and she'd always have these dodgy men surrounding her and I'd be wanting to shout "what are you doing Billie?" As I've got older, I've learnt to really respect her because as well as making bad decisions, like we all do, she was a tough woman. She got on that stage she sung she did what she needed to do.'
And certainly for Rebecca, who has gone through her own heartache in the last year, not just from Arabella's father stepping out of the picture, but also from the reports that her older children's dad Karl - who has stepped up as as a parent for her new daughter - has allegedly been charged with possessing Class B drug mephedrone with intent to supply it.
Loving it: Rebecca says she is enjoying being a mother right now and not fussed about weight loss
'It's quite easy for me to translate my emotions into my music' Ferguson says, 'I'm quite an open book, I think that's what singers are there for, to help other people with your talent. I like that I can express what I've been through, through my songs. [Billie's] the same, she won't sing anything if it doesn't mean something to.'
'She lived in a dark time she had dark things happen to her but she didn't let that stop., even throughout her addictions she got on that stage and I respect that in anyone.'
Lady Sings The Blues - Rebecca's take on the best of Billie Holiday will be released March 9th on RCA Records.
Rebecca will play her version of these iconic songs at a series of intimate live shows in London in February and March 2015.
Tribute: Lady Sings The Blues - Rebecca's take on the best of Billie Holiday will be released March 9th on RCA Records
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2956717/Rebecca-Ferguson-displays-curvy-post-pregnancy-body-says-s-no-rush-shape-up.html#ixzz3S2JPa87E
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