Former Home and Away star Tammin Sursok caused a stir online and divided fans after sharing a cheeky photo on Instagram, posing nude with her two children.
The Australian actress, 36, posted the picture when she was on a family vacation in Montana with her husband, Sean McEwen, and their two beloved daughters, six-year-old Phoenix and one-year-old Lennon on 07 July.
The image shows the Pretty Little Liars actress with her back to the camera, holding her youngest daughter Lennon, while Phoenix stands by their side as they enjoyed their natural surrounds. The trio is naked in the photo, with star emojis edited on to the image.
The mother-of-two, who relocated from Australia to Los Angeles in 2006, captioned the post:
“Thank you Montana and @yourmontanagetaway for the MOST incredible stay! You stole our hearts and by the looks of it, our clothes.”
The rather X-rated post garnered mixed responses from some of her 1.3 million followers. Several fans complimented the parent for her confidence and said the picture was “beautiful” and “sweet,” while others described it as too “personal” and “strange.”
One person commented:
“You shouldn’t share these pics … Your little girls without clothes. Internet is full of bad people.”
Another added:
“Some pictures should just be personal. Love for your family but not out in the world.”
However, most of the fans defended the actress, saying that Tammin should posts whatever she likes and feels secure.
One follower praised the actress, saying:
“Hell yeah for teaching your children to be body positive not body conscious!!”
Another wrote:
“Love this! Both the photo and your courage of posting it online!”
Similar comments included:
‘I love this! Who cares what people say? It’s your life and your body!’ and ‘Gorgeous, Tammin!
Moreover, the actress herself hit back at the critics, sharing a lengthy follow-up post. She explained that she spent almost 30 years hating her body and now wants her daughters to feel ‘empowered’ about their bodies, not ashamed. She said:
“I had spent the last 30 years being told that the only way to happiness, worth and love was for other people to view my body as good enough. As I sit here and lament over the last two days I have come to the realisation that we as a society have made the objectification of the female form something we have become accustomed to.”
The actress added:
‘We do not celebrate the real value of a woman. Her body that feeds and houses her child and ultimately births them. The parts of her body that are used for creation we hide and censor, for it creates fear in our mind of what we have been taught is bad or sexual or wrong. We can do better. We must do better.’
She concluded by saying:
‘I have spent the good part of 30 years hating my body. I can’t get that time back. But my children can. I will not let opinions that are coated in other people’s insecurities dis-empower who my daughters are and will be. It starts with me.’
The actress accompanied the posts with a bundle of pictures, including breastfeeding one of her daughters and posing on camera as an insecure teen.
Tammin shares her two adorable daughters with actor/director husband, Sean McEwan. The pair wed in 2011.
Tammin and her now-husband celebrated their nuptials in Florence, Italy, on 24 August 2011. The Australian magazine Woman’s Day had published their wedding pictures.
Before giving birth to her youngest daughter, Tammin suffered two back-to-back miscarriages, which made the journey to her motherhood even more magical.
