Jennifer Ellison, 40, looks incredible in a yellow bikini as she lounges by the pool in Turkey after revealing she has ditched the fad diets

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Jennifer Ellison looked incredible as she lounged by the pool in Turkey on Wednesday after revealing she has ditched the fad diets. 

The former Brookside star, 40 - who was a size 18 at her largest - showed off her figure in a cropped yellow bikini. 

She teamed it with a clashing pair of thong bottoms and shielded her face from the sun with a straw trilby hat. 

In September, Jennifer - who found fame as Emily Shadwick in Brookside - revealed that she has stopped dieting and is happy with her weight of just over 10 stone after years of yo-yo dieting. 

She told new! Magazine: 'I'm not the smallest I've ever been, but am at a happy weight where I feel OK getting into a bikini or a costume in the swimming pool.'

Amazing: Jennifer Ellison, 40, looked incredible as she lounged by the pool in Turkey on Wednesday after revealing she has ditched the fad diets

Stunning: The former Brookside star showed off her figure in a cropped yellow bikini

Transformation: Jennifer recently revealed she was a size 18 at her largest (pictured in 2015)

She added: 'I'm in a happy and confident place. I am about 10¾st at the moment. I don't feel I'm in that rat race anymore of having to look amazing. I've stopped trying to diet.

'When you do faddy diets they don't work, so I've given up. My weight has gone up and down so much over the years so I just try to eat healthily now.'

Jennifer told the publication about losing her confidence after gradually gaining weight and going up to a size 18.

She recalled: 'My agent would phone me up, and the thought of going for an audition... I would refuse. I'd say 'I can't do it'. I had lost my confidence. I had literally given up on myself'.

Last year, Jennifer - who shares three sons Bobby, Harrison, and Charlie with husband Rob - revealed that prior to taking part in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins: 'I'd given up on myself. I never looked in the mirror.

'I didn't think I could ever go back on stage because no one would want me. I had gone from being this girl known for acting and men's mags to becoming this mum and teacher.'

Jennifer previously admitted during an appearance on Loose Women: 'I was getting anxiety about seeing people from my past because I thought they were looking at me thinking what the hell happened to you?

'People in the shops would be like, "God girl, you've piled on the weight haven't you!" I was size 18 in self destruct mode. I wouldn't look in the mirror, I didn't care. Everything was about my (sons).'

In September, Jennifer - who found fame as Emily Shadwick in Brookside - revealed that she has stopped dieting and is happy with her weight of just over 10 stone

Life style: The actress explained how she had gone through years of yo-yo dieting

Confident: She told new! Magazine: 'I'm not the smallest I've ever been, but am at a happy weight where I feel OK getting into a bikini or a costume in the swimming pool'

Beach ready: She added: 'I'm in a happy and confident place. I am about 10¾st at the moment. I don't feel I'm in that rat race anymore of having to look amazing. I've stopped trying to diet'

Changes: Jennifer continued: 'When you do faddy diets they don't work, so I've given up. My weight has gone up and down so much over the years so I just try to eat healthily now'

Past: Jennifer told the publication about losing her confidence after gradually gaining weight and going up to a size 18

She decided to take drastic action, checking into a detox centre where she was rationed to a tiny 400 calories a day.

Jennifer added: 'I'd have a slice of apple and a six mile walk and get back starving. I was told the perfect analogy for me about wanting to help your boy's – like when you have to put on a flight oxygen mask, you have to put yours on first.

'In order to be good mum to them you have to look after yourself. With me it was self-neglect, everything was about the boys.'

Jennifer soared to fame on Brookside in 1998, on which she played Emily Shadwick until 2003. During this stint she became a lads' mag favourite.

She shares her three children Bobby, Harrison, and Charlie with husband Rob Tickle, who she married in October 2009.