Emily Atacks Empowering Bondage Shoot Breaks Stereotypes

For nearly two decades, Emily Atack has been best known as Charlotte 'Big Jugs' Hinchcliffe on The Inbetweeners.

Her life-changing role meant she got recognised instantly and booked for plenty of risqué photoshoots in lads' magazines like Loaded and FHM at just 17.

The opportunity sadly opened the door to a wave of online abuse and harassment that she suffered and continues to face.

Instead of shying away, Emily took ownership of her racy reputation and is standing firm in the fight against misogyny.

Emily previously declared 'getting her kit off' does not undermine her campaign to end violence against women. 

In her sexiest shoot yet, Emily's career went full-circle as she defied the critics in a sizzling bondage-inspired Agent Provocateur campaign.

In her sexiest shoot yet, Emily's career went full-circle as she defied the critics in a sizzling bondage-inspired Agent Provocateur campaign

Her life-changing role in The Inbetweeners as Charlotte 'Big Jugs' Hinchcliffe meant she got recognised instantly and booked for plenty of risqué photoshoots in lads' magazines at just 17

The actress said she felt 'truly empowered' by the sultry shoot, after 18 years of being nicknamed 'Big Jugs'.

She previously insisted that 'Charlotte' was not supposed to be a sex symbol – and only became one because 'the world is full of perverts'.

In an interview last year, Emily, who is the daughter of comic Kate Robbins, said: 'They see the blonde hair, the school uniform and they go "Oh wow, seductive, what a seductive role", but I was just a schoolgirl playing a schoolgirl.'

A source close to the star said: 'You can't blame her for wanting to grow up and rid herself of that – Charlotte "Big Jugs" is no more. She was lusted after in a pretty disgusting way, she was a teenager back then, as was her character... 

'But the whole sex symbol thing has stuck with her until now.'

Showing off her svelte figure, the stunner will no doubt set tongues wagging after being hit with rumours of using weight loss jabs - something which led to social media divide among the British beauty's followers. 

On the campaign, Emily said: 'I've always loved Agent Provocateur as a brand, but had no idea there was such an incredible, creative team bringing it all to life...

'From our first lunch meeting to a brilliantly fun afternoon in Soho trying on lingerie to our shoot day at Camfield Place, I not only felt like I was part of that team but also felt entirely happy about trusting the process.

Emily catapulted to fame in the late Noughties playing schoolgirl Charlotte 'Big Jugs' Hinchcliffe in Channel 4 coming-of-age comedy The Inbetweeners (pictured on the show with co-star Simon Bird) 

Her lads' magazine opportunity sadly opened the door to a wave of online abuse and harassment that she suffered and continues to face (pictured in 2025)

Instead of shying away, Emily took ownership of her racy reputation and is standing firm in the fight against misogyny

'From start to finish this has been one of the most special projects I've worked on, and one I feel truly empowered by.'

The shoot was a nod to her role in the adaptation of Jilly Cooper's Rivals in which she plays upwardly mobile character Sarah Stratton. 

In the Disney+ hit, Emily set pulses racing by going topless in a scene while playing tennis. 

The British star is certainly no stranger to nudity, having appeared on the cover of lads' mags nearly naked.

Emily once revealed she 'genuinely had no problems' with wearing barely-there lingerie on the front covers and instead saw it as celebrating her youth and sexuality. 

'This is where I get confused. And I was confused then,' Emily told the Guardian. 'I was told, "You've got a photoshoot today" and it would be for Loaded magazine, or for FHM... So I was all, "Yep, clothes off, bikini on. Whatever." Genuinely, I had no problems with that - I enjoyed those shoots.

'I was celebrating my youth and my sexuality in beautiful locations, wearing gorgeous underwear... and I f****** loved it. It was great. I naively didn't think what narrative was being painted for me.'

Emily previously declared 'getting her kit off' does not undermine her campaign to end violence against women

The actress said she felt 'truly empowered' by the sultry shoot, after 18 years of being nicknamed 'Big Jugs'

Showing off her svelte figure, the stunner will no doubt set tongues wagging after being hit with rumours of using weight loss jabs

After being catapulted into fame on The Inbetweeners and lads' magazines, Emily's career improved once again when she appeared on I'm A Celebrity in 2018.

The opportunity led her to get a one-woman standup show called The Emily Atack Show.

Returning back to her routes, Emily bagged a role in Rivals - which has been dubbed the 'sexiest show yet'. 

In one scene from the adaptation based on Dame Jilly Cooper's best selling novels, Emily stripped naked along with her co-star while playing tennis in the garden. 

The scene forced Emily to defend that playing a character that uses sex as a way of getting ahead does not deplete her message at all, as she insists 'it shouldn't matter'.

She told The Mirror: 'I know lots of people will say, "Hang on a minute. One minute she's talking about violence against women, the next minute she's getting her kit off in a show. That doesn't correlate", but what I'm trying to show is that it should not matter at all.'

Rivals is based on Jilly's 1988 novel, and follows the cutthroat world of independent television in 1986.

It focuses on the tense rivalry between Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and stars Emily as Sarah Stratton, who is described as ambitious and not afraid to use her looks to get to the top.

In 2024, she played upwardly mobile character Sarah Stratton in the Disney+ hit and set pulses racing by going topless in a scene while playing tennis  

Emily's bust risked slipping out of a half-cup bra which she paired with suspenders, a pearl necklace and a matching sheer robe 

According to Disney+, Rivals is a 'joyously mischievous rollercoaster ride, steamy in its love stories and packed with larger-than-life characters'.

The new shoot comes after Emily's Christmas carousel of photos have sparked an outrageous reaction from her followers, some of whom have accused her of using weight loss jabs.

Emily looked gorgeous as she posed for the Instagram snaps which were captioned 'Christmas - a small selection of some fave outfits and beautifully busy tables that give me heartburn just looking at them.'

Emily posed in chic looks including skinny jeans and a black leather dress and colorful shrug, alongside snaps of her festive feasts and pub trips with pals.

Her comments section was soon brimming with messages but many fans rushed to defend the star after some suggested she had turned to weight loss aids. 'Skinny jabs are jabbing' wrote one follower as another asked 'on the jabs? Looks good tho.'

The actress welcomed her first child with her scientist fiancé Alistair Garner, in June 2024, a baby boy named Barney.

Just months after the birth Emily revealed she had been inundated with questions about her weight, but had refused to rush back to the gym.

Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast in 2024, Emily shared: 'There's something quite liberating about having a baby. Your body goes through so much and you genuinely look at your body as a completely different vessel...

One of her ensembles comprised a sizzling white set with mesh 

She looked incredible in the shots as she sizzled for the camera 

'Being pregnant and desexualised, looking at your body, you create a human inside you, then you give birth to your child - which by the way is mental - you get home and the first thing people say to you is, when are you going to get back in the gym?'

Emily laughed: 'Are you kidding? I've just created a human, I am exhausted! I've just tried to push a human out of me and had it ripped out of my stomach. The last thing I want to do is go to the gym but the first thing you're expected to do is get back into shape.

'Where's the congratulations for being a mother? Instead it's when are you going to get the baby weight off... I'm not back at the gym at the minute, I've actually put on more weight since giving birth. I'm just enjoying this bit.' 

While Emily may have given herself a makeover, there will be those who accuse her of hypocrisy for her new look because she has previously talked of feeling 'free' about her curves after years of insecurity.

Last year, discussing her success in the aftermath of The Inbetweeners, she said: 'Everybody started talking about my weight. There was a whole Facebook page dedicated to me/Charlotte Hinchcliffe. I couldn't believe how awful it was...

'People would then try and be positive and say, "At least we're seeing curvier girls now playing sexier roles on television." I didn't even know I was curvy!'