Jameela Jamil shares shot of her bare thighs as she urges fans to ‘love every inch’ of their bodies

Since rising to international fame in her recently-concluded show The Good Place, she has become an outspoken advocate for positive body image.

And Jameela Jamil, 34, stayed true to form on Monday, when she shared a snap of her bare thighs, without airbrushing or filters, as she urged fans to love their bodies.

Taking part in the #instagramrealitychallenge initiative, the British actress showed herself posing with her red floral dress hiked up high enough to display her curves in all their honest glory as she sat in the back of a car.

Body image: Jameela Jamil, 34, continued to promote positive body image on Monday, when she shared a snap of her bare thighs, without airbrushing or filters

She captioned the snap: ‘Lot of DMs about body image s**t. Lots of toxic influencers showing airbrushed photos and perpetuating weight loss rhetoric, as well as freaking people out about their weight gain from no exercise and dietary changes.

‘Listen, try to just love your body for what it does, not for how it looks. Loving how it looks is too hard for some who need to unlearn all their self-hatred. Think of it as an amazing machine if you can. Even if it doesn’t work in all the ways you wish it would.

‘Love what it Can do. And know even thin actresses are covered in lumps and bumps and stretch marks. You just forget that because of bulls**t airbrushing. Don’t worry about losing weight right now in this moment… just survive.’

Interview: The star's post comes after she admitted she regrets coming out as queer at the time she did (pictured in March 2020)

Interview: The star’s post comes after she admitted she regrets coming out as queer at the time she did (pictured in March 2020) 

The star’s post come days comes one week after she admitted that she regrets coming out as queer in the manner that she did recently.

Jameela conceded that she ‘snapped’ and came out after receiving criticism for joining TV series Legendary, a competition focused on ballroom culture.

Many people thought the judging panel should be exclusively made up of queer people to reflect the show’s themes, with Jameela then making the revelation.

In an interview with Variety Live, The Good Place star admitted she would have preferred to come out at a different time, describing the admission as an ‘outburst’.

She said: ‘It was just an outburst. That was not well-handled. I’m just human and I snapped! If I could go back I would have done it at a different time. I don’t know when it’s ever really appropriate, but that was not the best time.’ 

Criticism: The actress admitted she 'snapped' and came out after receiving criticism for joining TV series Legendary, a competition focused on ballroom culture

Criticism: The actress admitted she ‘snapped’ and came out after receiving criticism for joining TV series Legendary, a competition focused on ballroom culture

Jameela ‘wrestled with the shame’ of her sexuality for ‘a long time’ as she said being queer isn’t ‘accepted’ within her South Asian background.

And the actress kept this aspect of herself quiet because she wanted to keep part of her private life to herself, but admitted it does feel ‘nice’ to have it off her chest.

She said: ‘I come from a South Asian background, so you just don’t really have a lot of queer idols. There isn’t a lot of conversation around it.

‘There isn’t a lot of acceptance for it within my culture, traditionally. It was just something that I wrestled with the shame of for a long time.

‘I have never felt like my private life is mine alone, so I’ve been trying to grapple with how to handle that for so long because I don’t like having my love life scrutinised.

Show: Many people thought the panel should be exclusively made up of queer people to reflect the show's themes, with Jameela then confirming she is queer (pictured in January)

Show: Many people thought the panel should be exclusively made up of queer people to reflect the show’s themes, with Jameela then confirming she is queer (pictured in January) 

‘So I kept it quiet for a while to give myself some privacy and then it just burst out of me. Not my favourite moment of the year. We live and we learn … it’s nice to have it off my chest.’

Jameela spoke about her sexuality in a lengthy social media post last month, where she said it was ‘scary’ to open up to the world before she was ready.

She wrote: ‘This is why I never officially came out as queer. I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it’s not easy within the South Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.

‘But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid.

Outburst: She said, 'It was just an outburst. That was not well handled. I'm just human and I snapped! If I could go back I would have done it at a different time' (pictured in January 2020)

Outburst: She said, ‘It was just an outburst. That was not well handled. I’m just human and I snapped! If I could go back I would have done it at a different time’ (pictured in January 2020) 

‘I didn’t come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It’s also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you’re already a brown female in your thirties. This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out. 

‘I’m jumping off this hell app for a while because I don’t want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts. (sic)’

It comes after Jameela admitted she chose an ‘inappropriate time’ to come out in a social media post soon after the backlash.

She wrote: ‘The sequence of events was insane, a misunderstanding was left uncorrected for too long, and misinformation spread too far, too fast, then my timing was bad, and in a moment of distress and pain, personal things were blurted out because when you have a secret for decades and you’re traumatized, it always feels like it might just f*****g burst out of you at any given moment, even the most inappropriate and unfortunate ones.

‘I thankfully chose the *most* inappropriate and unfortunate time, maybe ever, for mine. So now you don’t have to feel embarrassed about yours. I PEAKED FOR ALL OF US!

‘But timing aside. Better out than in, and thank you for the thousands of messages of kindness and deeply personal letters from strangers and people I know, coming out to me privately. I don’t take it lightly and am happy for you that you felt ready to tell even one person.

‘Do it whenever you feel the time is right, as long as you think you’ll be safe. Don’t feel bad for hiding it for as long as you need, and move at your own pace.

‘But feel no shame about getting it off your chest and know you aren’t alone. There is a huge community of people who understand you, respect you and stand with you.

‘On we go, hoping this week will be calmer than the last, and sending everyone the most love. Jam’.

Idols: Jameela added, 'I come from a South Asian background, so you just don't really have a lot of queer idols. There isn't a lot of conversation around it' (pictured in January 2020)

Idols: Jameela added, ‘I come from a South Asian background, so you just don’t really have a lot of queer idols. There isn’t a lot of conversation around it’ (pictured in January 2020)