Dragons' Den star Sara Davies has revealed her struggles to get pregnant and how the stress resulted in weight gain.
The County Durham -born mum-of-two, who wowed fans on Strictly Come Dancing last year, has written a memoir, We Can All Make It, in which she charts her life. The book details her successes and her setbacks in the business world.
She started her own crafting supply company, Crafter's Companion, while she was studying business at York University, later launching The Enveloper, a bespoke envelope for handmade cards which set her on the road to millions. But away from business, one of the most challenging periods of her life came in her mid-20s when, desperate for children, she didn't fall pregnant, she reveals.
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Her husband, Simon, who she has been with since they were teenagers and who gave up his career to join Crafter's Companion, apparently despaired about how consumed she became.
"At the time, I didn't even talk to my family about it. For years, I would say, 'We're so busy at work, we haven't got time for kids'. We were trying but it wasn't happening," she recalls now.
"I felt there was pressure on me to give my parents grandkids. They knew what a big family person I was and were worried that I was losing sight of my ultimate goal which was to have a bigger family, because I was so focused on the business. The reality was it wasn't happening for me."
The stress of the situation resulted in weight gain, as she turned to chocolate and cake for comfort.
"I'm one of the most positive people you could ever meet but it wasn't happening and I couldn't be positive about it. I really struggled with that which is why my weight spiralled out of control.
"We'd keep trying and I'd think, 'I'm probably going to be pregnant by the end of this month so I don't need to keep going to the gym or watching what I eat because I'll be getting bigger anyway'. It would get to the end of the month and I'd get my period and be utterly distraught so I would comfort eat. And then the cycle would start again."
This went on for two years as she rattled towards obesity, the 38-year-old writes. "My sister finally sat me down and said it wasn't going to help - she wasn't necessarily saying, 'Let's go on a diet and lose loads of weight' - but that I needed to get my body in a good place."
So she stopped trying for a baby, lost some weight, took the pressure off herself - and fell pregnant almost without trying at all. Now she has two sons, Oliver, eight, and five-year-old Charlie. After having Charlie, she was told by the hospital that she needed to get her weight under control or she could develop type 2 diabetes.
"I had gestational diabetes through both my pregnancies which puts you at a 50% higher risk of type 2 in later life. I'm conscious of that now. When I take myself for an MOT health check every 18 months, I know I'm in a much better place in that I've got my BMI down to a healthy level, but I need to get it a little bit further still."
She gets up at 5.30am to fit in 45 minutes of exercise before her working day. "I'm really happy with how I look. I know I'm a little bit overweight but I'm not body conscious. It's all right to be slightly bigger and champion that. Women don't need all stick-thin role models. But my drive to lose weight is to be healthy, not that I want to look thinner when I'm on TV."
Her family, however, didn't want her to do Dragons' Den. "My mum didn't want me to take the job because all she sees is that people who put themselves in the public eye just come in for a load of mud-slinging. Cheryl Cole had just been heavily criticised for her appearance and she's from the North East as well, so my mum didn't want me to do it for fear of them saying nasty things about me in the papers.
"I've never been the trendiest dresser so I was worried what people would say about that. But it was a huge opportunity and it comes with the territory. And actually, I didn't have all of that (criticism). People champion the body confidence that I've got."
We Can All Make It by Sara Davies with Alexandra Heminsley is published by Bantam, priced £20.
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