Nicole Sullivan Says Jessica Alba and Other Hollywood Moms Lie About Losing Baby Weight

Well, this is one way to get thrown out of the Hollywood mothers' group.

Cougar Town actress Nicole Sullivan has launched an attack on celebrity mothers who claim losing baby weight is easy. The 42-year-old mother of two singled out Jessica Alba, saying the actress and other Hollywood moms lie about how they got their bodies back after pregnancy.

What she said

"I would flip through celeb magazines... and I just couldn't get how these moms like Jessica Alba lost so much weight so quickly, and yet I couldn't," Sullivan told Us Weekly at "The Real Women of Jenny Craig" event in New York on January 23.

"They all lie and say, 'Oh, I lost the weight running after the kids or breastfeeding.' It's not true!"

Feeling like an outsider

Sullivan described feeling alienated in Hollywood after giving birth to her son Dashel, now 5: "I felt broken. I felt like an outsider in my own community. There just are not a lot of overweight people in Hollywood. I felt like the jerk who couldn't figure it out."

The former MADtv star said she finally found something that worked when she signed on as a Jenny Craig brand ambassador: "I had tried every other diet in the world and decided to give Jenny Craig a try. The first week, I lost five pounds and then lost an average of two pounds a week for 16 weeks. I lost 35 pounds total. It changed my life."

The second time around

Sullivan has since had a second son, Beckett, now 3, and said the experience was transformed by letting go of the self-blame: "When I look back to when I had my first son, I was unhappy. I couldn't understand why the weight wasn't just falling off. I wish I could have that time back. With my second son, I enjoyed the whole process of him being an infant more because I wasn't mad at myself. When you are mad at yourself, you are mad at everybody. That's the problem."

Her verdict on where she landed: "I may not look like [Alba], but at least I can keep up with other actresses now. I feel really good about myself."

The punchline

Months later, Alba inadvertently proved Sullivan's point, revealing she had worn a double corset day and night for three months after each pregnancy. It was not breastfeeding and chasing toddlers after all.

FAQ

Who is Nicole Sullivan? A comedian and actress known for MADtv and Cougar Town; she was 42 and a mother of two in 2013.

What did she claim? That celebrity moms lie when they say baby weight came off from breastfeeding or chasing kids.

Where did she say it? To Us Weekly at a Jenny Craig event in New York on January 23, 2013.

How did she lose the weight? As a Jenny Craig ambassador: five pounds the first week, then about two a week for 16 weeks, 35 pounds total.

Was she right about Alba? Alba later said she wore a double corset around the clock for three months postpartum.

The takeaway

Hollywood's baby-weight stories are marketing, not medicine. Sullivan said the quiet part out loud, and Alba's corset did the rest.