Media personality and former Miss South Africa winner, Liesl Laurie-Mthombeni, recently experienced a wave of reactions from her Instagram followers due to her bloated tummy. This prompted her to respond.
Addressing Pregnancy Speculations
Liesl shared a video on Instagram where she addressed the issue head-on. She sent a stern warning to those who post insensitive comments about her personal life, particularly those alluding to pregnancy.
She stated, “If you post any comment on my page alluding to pregnancy, I’m going to block you — and I hope other people also block people who make inappropriate comments.”
Liesl emphasized the changes women’s bodies undergo, saying, “As women, our bodies go through so much. So no, Jennifer, I’m not hiding my pregnancy or pregnant — I’m bloated because I’m on my period, because that’s what happens to women and you as a woman should understand that.”
She further advised people to wait for individuals to announce their pregnancies if they are indeed pregnant.
Opening Up About Anxiety
Last week, Liesl, who is married to Dr Musa Mthombeni and is a former presenter at Jacaranda FM, opened up about her struggles with anxiety.
She shared a rare makeup-free image of herself revealing her puffy red eyes and confessed that she had been crying due to feeling extremely overwhelmed.
She said, “I woke up before 6 this morning feeling extremely overwhelmed by everything. I don’t know if it’s the last quarter of the year push or just general anxiety to ‘kill it’ at everything.”
Triggered by Societal Standards
Liesl mentioned that she was triggered by the Barbie movie as it highlighted the societal standards that women are expected to conform to.
She quoted Gloria’s (America Ferrera) monologue in the movie: “We have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin.”
The monologue also highlights the pressures of motherhood, sisterhood and answering for “men’s bad behavior.” Liesl expressed that she relates with many different parts of the monologue.
Liesl acknowledged that some days can be particularly challenging. She said, “I’ve come to accept that some days will really just give you a moerse punch in the gut. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I show up 100% for work, gym, family time etc so today I’m showing up 100% to my crying session. Tomorrow? We shall see what tomorrow brings. We trust God for the joy he brings in the morning.”