FORMER Made In Chelsea star Lucy Watson, 31, opens up about growing up on a farm, and being body-shamed after going vegan.

Lucy reveals that if she was ever a bit heavier, she'd get body-shamed – but the star feels self-conscious when reading articles saying she looked like a skeleton.

Before my parents split up when I was around nine, we’d always have sit-down meals as a family, particularly roast dinners.

But I remember during one of those meals, when I was about five, I looked at the chicken on my plate and thought: “This is a dead body, not food.”

I pushed the chicken to one side and didn’t want to eat it. It’s a lot easier to understand what a chicken is as a child, because it shares its name with the meat, plus we had chickens on the farm we lived on in Surrey.

My parents told me to finish my dinner, but I couldn’t, even though I didn’t fully understand why.

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Growing up on a farm had the biggest impact on me being vegetarian and it was quite a scarring experience.

We used to be really involved in raising the lambs.

They would sleep in our kitchen by our Aga in little dog beds and be bottle-fed by us.

They were like any other baby – sweet and so gentle.

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There was one lamb in particular that I bonded with, called Maisie.

So when I left for school one morning and the slaughter truck arrived, I said to my dad: “Please can you make sure they don’t take Maisie.”

But when I came back that evening, she was gone.

From that day forward, that was it for me – I didn’t want any animals on my plate, and my parents didn’t argue as they saw the effect it had on me.

I remember it like it was yesterday, even though I was six at the time. 

One of my worst experiences at primary school was being made to sit at a separate table, all because I didn’t eat meat.

It was right at the back of the hall, with this one other girl who was also vegetarian.

Being segregated like that impacted me, but I was, and always have been, very stubborn, so my opinion couldn’t be swayed.

I even recruited some of the other kids to join us on the table and be veggie.

When I was living independently in my 20s and on Made In Chelsea, my relationship with food started to be a bit unhealthy because it was so overindulgent.

I was making money and not taking it that seriously, so I was buying whatever food I wanted, no matter what it cost to get it delivered. 

I was ordering three meals a day, like pizza, macaroni cheese, doughnuts, milkshakes… Foods that have basically no nutritional benefits.

Plus, all that sugar was really bad for my body. 

In 2015, I finally went vegan while I was still on Made In Chelsea, and I ended up being body-shamed because of it.

I had cut out all animal products, which meant no pizza, no macaroni cheese, none of the foods that I used to regularly consume.

So I went from those types of foods to eating just vegetables, fruit and grains.

I lost around a stone within about two and a half weeks – it was really crazy. 

I was eating the same portions, but I wasn’t getting enough fat in my diet.

I’d read articles saying that I looked like a skeleton, which made me feel self-conscious.

I tried to turn it into a positive and be aware of the foods I was eating going forward – now I make sure I have a balanced plate, consisting of healthy fats and plenty of non-processed carbohydrates, to stay at a healthy weight. 

Regardless of the size you are, there is always going to be criticism, and that’s what I struggled with.

If I was ever a bit heavier, I’d get body-shamed for that or my cellulite.

It’s really hard being a woman in the public eye and people commenting on your weight 24/7.

When my husband [James Dunmore, 32, also a former MIC star], who is vegan, and I have children, I’ll continue to be vegan through pregnancy.

Friends have done the same and their babies are amazingly healthy and strong.

We also plan to raise our children vegan.

People say we’d be forcing them into something, but I’d say that to eat an animal is more of a choice than to not.  

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