Two mums who have spent £63,000 between them on cosmetic surgery have hit out at internet trolls as they seek to combat misleading pictures of Instagram models.
Ashley Stobart, whose husband is millionaire haulage heir Ed Stobart, and Lauren Harris are taking the podcast world by storm with 'Nip, Tuck, Not Giving a F***', which sees them give frank accounts of life as 30-something mums who openly enjoy cosmetic surgery and facial treatments.
The first episode shot to the top of the download chart and the pair hope to use the platform to encourage women to be honest about cosmetic treatments they’ve had done instead of claiming to 'naturally' look a certain way in Instagram photos, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Ashley, 31, from Hale, Greater Manchester, said: “Being natural doesn’t make you any better than someone else, but being honest does.”
She added: “It’s so important to be honest about what you’ve had done, this isn’t how women come out of the womb, we have had stuff done, we’re not promoting it in any way, but if you are out there posting on instagram and showing off the assets you bought, I do think you should say ‘yeah I’ve had stuff done’.
“Whether you like it or not, cosmetic treatments are a part of everyday life now and it’s not going to go away.”
Both her and Laura, 31, from Rawtenstall, Lancashire, are open about how much they have spent on cosmetic procedures - Ashley detailing £38,000 worth of treatments including her first boob job at the age of 22, liposuction, a nose job and 'bleph job' on her eyelids, meanwhile Lauren has spent £25,000 on three different breast enhancement surgeries.
They also enjoy regular skin and face treatments like botox and fillers.
Lauren, 31, from Rawtenstall, said: “People can make their own decisions about cosmetic work, we are not trying to promote it in any way.
“We called the podcast Nip Tuck, Not Giving a F***, but it’s not just about cosmetic surgery - it’s about women, about mums being brave enough to be open and honest about their lives, challenge stereotypes and tell funny stories.
“To say nobody’s perfect despite how it can sometimes look on Instagram, and to be honest about ourselves.
“We want women to stop feeling bad about themselves - and what’s more damaging is when people look at certain Instagram photos thinking that women look like that naturally.”
The two women became friends while working at the same cosmetic surgery clinic in Manchester 10 years ago.
They became mums around the same time - Ashley to 2-year-old Saskia and Lauren to Thea, 3 – and both women returned to work after maternity leave to continue their careers in the cosmetic surgery industry.
Lauren and Ashley have shared experiences of being single working mums - although Ashley recently got married to her millionaire beau, Ed Stobart of the well-known haulage family.
The motivation to launch their podcast came as a way for the women to create positives from a negative situation that shocked them to the core.
They both regularly post about their lives on Instagram, with Ashley having 14.6k followers and Lauren 21.5k followers, but the friends were gobsmacked to discover they were the victims of 'toxic gossip' on the anti-influencer website Tattle Life.
People with anonymous profiles had created entire threads dissecting Ashley and Lauren’s private lives - while making completely unfounded and false claims about them.
To 'reclaim' the gossip the girls decided to launch a podcast where they’d be able to be totally open and honest about their lives and hit back at the anonymous bullies.
Former Altrincham Grammar School for Girls pupil Ashley said: “We’re not celebrities, we’re literally just normal people and yet jealous people have gone on to that site just to slander us.”
Lauren added: “People have been saying for ages we should do something like a podcast, and we felt like this was the only way to address the situation with Tattle Life - it’s not like we could go on Instagram and go through everything people had been saying.
“The podcast was a way for us to discuss motherhood, being a working mum, and all the stereotypes around that, like how mums should look a certain way. We feel we’ve got so much to say to a lot of women of our age group.”
Ashley does not share photos of her daughter on her social media pages, while Lauren decided she would share photos of daughter Thea with her friends and followers on Instagram.
Both decisions were criticised on the gossip site - with the trolls slamming Ashley for 'never showing her kid' on Instagram suggesting she is a bad mum and never with her child, while Lauren was criticised for going on holiday without her child.
Lauren says: “There are different things that frustrate us about it, not just that it’s mean, and a lot of it is totally untrue, but that it seems to be mostly women talking about other women.
“But since the podcast, we’ve been blown away by the support we’ve received. The best part of it is that it’s women. After the trolling and negativity from women I’ve been exposed to, I’ll admit I lost faith in our gender but not any more.”
The next podcast is due to go live in June, and will see the girls discuss cheating men and relationships.
Lauren laughs: “Ashley gets judged for marrying a millionaire while I get judged for the calibre of men I date - it’s impossible to win! We just want to say this is us, like it or lump it.”
