Angellica Bell Flaunts Curves in Floral Bikini on St. Lucia Cruise

Angellica Bell showed off her toned curves in a multi-print bikini as she posed for sun-soaked Instagram snaps from her holiday in Saint Lucia on Friday.

The presenter, 49, enjoyed a sunshine break on a cruise in the Caribbean, looking incredible in her latest social media pictures.

The Celebrity MasterChef star told her 102K followers that she was over the moon to return to her St Lucia after almost 20 years.

She wrote: ‘St Lucia oh how I’ve missed you! It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve been back to the country of my heritage and although it was only for a day (and one of the reasons why I decided to be on the cruise), it was epic.

‘St Lucia truly is the epitome of paradise and to once again see the twin peaks of Les Pitons was incredible. 

She went on explaining: ‘My family are from #Castries and #Soufriere  so to connect with both places was extra special. I need to come back with the family for a proper visit….but for now…it’s been everything.’

The stunning snaps come after Angellica revealed the ‘ridiculous purchase’ she made during her early career, because she felt ‘compelled to look smaller on TV’. 

The radio and TV presenter, who is best known for presenting on CBBC between 2000 and 2006, described her younger self as ‘a little fat chubby child’.

Appearing on the latest episode of the Spent podcast, in association with Nationwide, she admitted that in an effort to slim down, she bought a machine that used electrical pulses to cause contractions in her abdominal muscles, in the hopes it would give her abs.

Reflecting on how she started her career in TV, Angellica explained she’d never imagined becoming a presenter while growing up, because she didn’t believe she was ‘anything special to look at’.

During her younger years, she had a paper round and even worked in McDonald’s before landing her first TV job as a roving reporter for the Big Breakfast on Channel 4 in the late 1990s. 

Her big break came when she started working for CBBC in 2000, hosting in between shows before eventually landing main presenting stints on shows including Xchange, 50/50, and That’s Genius! 

But despite her success, she confessed that her insecurities didn’t disappear overnight as she detailed her desires to appear ‘smaller’ onscreen.

Speaking to host Matt Edmondson, Angellica recalled: ‘For me, I wouldn’t say necessarily, being on CBBC was something that I thought could happen to me. 

‘Maybe because I didn’t know how to get there. I’d grown up watching it and just thinking that looks so cool, but I never envisioned myself in the spot.

‘Growing up, I was like a little fat chubby child with national health glasses, so I wasn’t anything special to look at. So I just thought, yeah, we’ll see what happens.’

She went on to explain how she ended up splashing the cash on an abs machine, before realising it was ineffective and couldn’t replace traditional exercise and diet.

She said: ‘I once bought one of those machines that gives you a six pack. Back in the day, there used to be these things where you’d put it on and they put like electric shocks to make your tummy go in. And they would be like, “You’ll have a six pack in six months!”

Angellica detailed: ‘They’re saying the idea is that it helps you, because all these things give you a little electric shot so your muscles are sort of tensing up. And then you will look like an Adonis.’

But when Matt asked how consistently she used it, she confessed: ‘No. I used it for a bit and nothing was happening. 

‘I think it definitely is a con, because at the end of the day, we know that in order to get a body like that, you’ve got to eat a lot of protein and do a lot of sit ups. 

‘And sleep. And don’t have any fun. Don’t eat an ice cream. Don’t eat any cakes. And I’m not prepared to do that.’

She candidly acknowledged it had been a poor investment and that she had since realised the importance of exercise and being comfortable with her body.