Shape I'm In: Pamela Flood

TV PRESENTER Pamela Flood, 42, is on a natural high. Her second child Elsie, was born last month.

“I feel brilliant. I’m sure I’m tired but it’s buried beneath the happy,” she says while breastfeeding her five-week-old. Though continuing to work under the glare of media scrutiny, the former Miss Ireland is in no rush to lose her mummy tummy.

“You’ve just created a human being and nobody should feel under pressure to spring back to their pre-pregnancy figure. It happens when it happens,” she says.

Married to restaurateur Ronan Ryan, the couple also have a son Harrison, who is two years old and delighted with the new arrival.

Pamela recently launched Friends of the Coombe 2014 charity calendar, featuring children who were cared for in the neonatal unit. Buy a copy via www.friendsofthecoombe.ie, [e-mail] or 01-4085539.

What shape are you in?

I could be fitter. It’s my New Year resolution — Elsie will be three months old then and that will give me enough time to bond and to rest. I didn’t get to exercise this time as much as I did with Harrison because having him there meant I couldn’t just take off and go swimming.

Do you have any health concerns?

I don’t — I take better care of myself now than I’ve ever done in my life. I hardly have alcohol anymore and I stopped smoking years ago.

What are your healthiest eating habits?

I eat a lot more fruit than I used to. Harrison is a little fruit bat — and because I’m giving it to him I am inclined to have a little more myself.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Chocolate. I just love it.

What would keep you awake at night?

Not that much these days. I would have said I was a world-class worrier up to having children but now it’s different. As long as everyone is well — my world is all right. You’d sacrifice anything in the world for your child to be ok.

How do you relax?

I’m a telly addict — I don’t seem to have the concentration for books at the moment. But at the end of the day when all is done and little people are asleep I love to watch TV for a couple of hours.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

Stephen Fry — my other half Ronan met him a few years ago and says he is one of the nicest human beings on the planet. And for someone girly, it would have to be Sandra Bullock — I love what she has to say, she is a very strong character.

What’s your favourite smell?

I am a bit of a perfume junkie, but I never have more than five or six on the go. Chloé is my favourite.

Is there anything you’d like to change about your appearance?

I’d love to have thicker hair and to have some pigment in my skin — it’s trivial stuff to be worried about. My body is healthy, it’s functional, it serves me well.

When it the last time you cried?

I probably get glassy-eyed most days. My emotions are never far from the surface. I cry because I am moved by something. It could be an ad on TV a lovely story related to me by someone, it could be something adorable my two-year-old has done.

What trait do you least like in others?

Rudeness. Also, bitchness — I think it’s something you can work on as you get older.

What trait do you least like in yourself?

Tardiness — I aim to be on time but it doesn’t really happen very often.

Do you pray?

I would call myself a lapsed Catholic. I suppose I don’t pray in the conventional sense but I do offer certain things up.

What would cheer up your day?

Right now it would be hard to be cheerier. But if I really wanted perfection it would be Ronan walking in the door with a giant tub of rum and raisin ice cream. That would be heaven.