Wild2Mild Podcast - Ep.5 Confidence, Cellulite & The Truth About Instagram 🧠

Episode Date: July 27, 2025

Send us a textIn this episode of Wild 2 Mild, Bethan Kershaw and Nicole O'Brien get real about the gap between what we post and what's actually going on behind the scenes.They reflect on the early days of editing photos for fun, struggling with acne and self-worth, and how growing up online shaped their confidence for better and worse.They talk body image, triggering comments, the pressure to be perfect and how female bodies have literally become a trend but most importantly, they explore how confidence isn't linear, why loving yourself doesn't mean being done evolving and how subliminal affirmations are changing the game.It's honest, empowering and the kind of chat they wish they heard when they were younger.They talk tips for self care: eating well, good sleep patterns & surrounding yourself with the right people.Subscribe for weekly episodes full of real talk, self-love, and unlearning the BS we've been fed.

Welcome to the Wild to Mild Podcast. This episode is mild. Yeah, because the last episodes were very wild and quite chaotic. Very chaotic. We've recognised it. We're not going to speak over each other. We've heard you's all. I know you're fuming.

We'll try not to do this episode, all right? Exactly. We actually can't really talk properly with these face masks. And we've purposely done that. Yes. To slow it down. To slow the phone. go down yes yes yes now today we're going to chat a lot about instaverse reality confidence

self-love self-la-la-la-la-la-la-law we're self-loving right now because we're doing our self-care routine we're doing a bit of pam I tell you what guys I love a sheet mask I do I absolutely love a sheet mask I do there's no mess you don't have to clean anything up after you know it's not like them clay masks that get stuck by all our other place you and then you find a bit of clay mask up your nose after three days it's none of that or in your ear in your air constantly

oh in the ear or something yeah like you know and it doesn't come back once you try and wash it away it's just done it's just amazing we love 15 minutes 15 minutes of Pia bless yeah and you just whip it off like your knickers yeah do you know it's so funny like is that we're used to getting glamed off

but like I feel like I look glam online all the time well not all the time because I wear tracks it's quite a lot but we I love showing this site I mean I'm gonna be honest I'm not like that at all

I do not joke glam all the time if you do go on me TikTok for oh yeah yeah sorry the TikToks would not glam but on Insta yes posts and real

oh yeah we are we all yeah it's Insta versus reality this is reality yeah this is reality sometimes we're like a little sheet man yeah we're like chill we do like to talk quietly

sometimes sometimes we do yeah I think we're slow it down for this podcast and we're just going to inhale through the nose exhale through the mouth oh and also it's very good if you get a little bit of a you know like a oh by that as well get it out get it out get it out i think insta versus reality is like such a thing that's been talked about a lot online i think oh yes i feel like i feel like we're definitely heading in the right direction with it personally it don't get as wrong there's always things that can be changed but i think people are definitely kind of clicking on now to the fully edited you know it's just not the vibe it's not the

vibe the only person i know who people love that content that clean content is from molly may i don't think it actually really works unless you're born influencer we're personalities i don't like i'm not good at the clean content or not that i'm not good at it It just doesn't suit me. Yeah. Also, you're talking about clean girl. Clean girl aesthetic, sorry. Oh, right.

Maybe I've gone off from a tangent. Well, I was thinking about like, you know, the fully edit it. Because my whole page in my Instagram profile is about authentically as in like, be your natural self, don't edit your photos, show your natural body, stuff like that. None of that face app. Yeah. Face app was such a thing. I used to face it. I don't do it anymore.

I don't like it. No. And people say, what do you want to what face that print their preset do you want? Do you want Hollywood for, kiss too? And I say, none. I say none. I just love Hollywood for. I think off the cough content and like being just authentic, people can see through it.

Yeah. Like people really can. And I think, listen, I think some people obviously that like to do the edits and stuff like that because I'm not going to like, I used to love editing me photos. It was honestly, like it was a hobby. I really, really enjoyed like tweaking it and getting rid of me blemishes and stuff like but I didn't realize how much of an impact that was having on my audience. And maybe it might not be having such a huge impact on certain individuals.

But on other individuals, that can really, like, kind of... I only think of it like this of, like, I wish I'd seen more real skin and real bodies when I was grown up. 100%. And I say that as if I'm 45, I'm not. I'm not just turned 30. But you know what I mean? I think so, 100%. Like, it used to be everyone editing and that.

definitely had a toll on me in my confidence like up until probably the last two years like when I was younger I had this is how self-conscious I was now I had bad bad skin and it really took a toll on my confidence and took a toll on everything but even in my own family home I had to wear a full face of foundation going for like downstairs to them they would never say anything they would never judge me but it was just all in my head and I had such issues like really bad confidence issues with like even staying over at a guy's house if I was dating them like I'd have to sleep in a full face of makeup I'd set an alarm on my phone where it would vibrate and I'd hold my phone in my hand throughout the night and I'd get up and I would take off

the makeup and redo a full face of makeup and go back to bed it was so bad and it was so detrimental for me and I never knew that it was so bad and then in lockdown maybe or well two years ago i posted like a photo without makeup and i really put myself out in my comfort zone because i had a mental health platform years ago that i set up with a company called loved l-o vd and we got the best psychologists all around the world to do different courses in mental health and um we sat down and they were absolutely amazing and i did one on confidence a full course in it and hearing people people be like oh that helped me so much and obviously i sat down with a psychologist and it was it was filmed and I learned so much

and since then it really grew my confidence that's so good and I think that's like the main thing as well like when you have a platform and stuff like I think utilising your platform in a way that helps others it's just it's such a like it's a selfless thing to do because you don't even realise how much that other person on the end of the you know the screen who was seeing someone shown up online

with like if you feel like you had bad skin or anything like that and you're short and you're doing that and that can go like from another person's perspective who's struggling with that yeah that's like such a good thing because they can see somebody else putting themselves out there like that and over time if you keep seeing content like that because for a long time I used to edit my photos like I did I never used to post roll photos I never did it was just the thing like yeah you didn't post roll photos you'd be out in Dubai with the girls and you'd be teet and they'd be like face up and each other and like it was a thing yeah it was but again it was a thing of the past

I feel like it's kind of we're over it now we're over it my god us personally I mean people might not be over it but like we're personally yeah and I think like I used to edit them so much and then I just kind of thought nah like I'm not I'm done I'm editing

I'm done editing these things because it's making me feel bad because then when I was taking photos I would be like well why do I look like that I look really weird like why's me arm like this why is me belly out that oh my god look me belly and i started really picking myself apart i was like oh my god i'm not doing this anyone then i remember posting like my first photo where i just i had no i had no makeup on

i had no nails on i had like just no nothing i was totally bare for the internet to say and i feel like that was just so it was stepping stone it was a stepping stone it is daunting it is but i think it's god it's so much effort editing it is so much effort and i'll be honest fuck that honestly fuck that why am I editing and I'm making myself

feel worse about myself and like I think it depends on how yeah but it depends on the person it depends yeah because again like if you get like the

what you were saying before the clean girl and the aesthetic and people trying to make that Instagram's aesthetic I mean I try and make it aesthetic like I put a little you know a cocktail on there

like it's a photo or like my nails or whatever you know I'll try and make it look appealing yeah but like in the sense of like trying to do like the whole changing the way that your body actually looks or no that your face actually is oh yeah and i think like we've two completely different

body shapes like yeah i'm literally i've got flat hours i'm like i'm i've always been like a greyhound breed like i've always been skinny and i've had such issues within in the past like growing up i i went in all girls school and we all wore skirts a few of us would wear trousers but i'm made my mom buy trousers. I needed baggy trousers. I hated how skinny my legs were I could never put on weight. I could never. And I feel like recently I got a bit of backlash on a post that I uploaded recently where you could see my body and then people were asking me why I wasn't eating and I looked unwell. And it's so awful because it's like people don't even know that you're like you're going through things like that could be really really triggering for you. But it was. And this

is the thing like people don't think to they know like they actually don't they don't even realize what like you kind of go through on your day to day life and people just need to be a bit more nicer on on Instagram and like on social media in general do you know what I mean? But remember I rang you after that and I was at the airport and I literally was on the

verge of tears because I was like this has really triggered me and brought me back to a bad place that I didn't want to be in and like and I said I was like you look amazing and like and the thing is as well though I think like sometimes especially if you have your own kind of like body image issues because that's essentially what it is like it's like you having a bit of a you know a worry and a thing of like how your body is and how your body looks and if you feel like you're not happy with it when somebody talks about it yeah it is

triggering because it's like you feel like you're not happy with it yeah but like you're not happy with it like do you know what I mean yeah like I am definitely like I'm confident now with who I am and what I'm doing etc and I've worked on that but that like all those comments and DMs brought me like back to that place that I was only for a day and I switched out of it but it's like that is so triggering and I think people don't think that like body image and body positivity comes in two different forms yeah it comes if you're curvy and it also comes if you're like skinny yeah and you're trying to put on weight it's like people don't think of that and like it can be so triggering yeah like going through you know like even we talked today about when I was

running and I was saying I need to put on more weight and put on more muscle like I'm really struggling with that and my my sister's dietitian so I'm going to get onto her to do me a full plan but like yeah it can definitely affect you and people need to realize the bodies come in completely different shapes and sizes yeah and it's all normal and it's all okay everyone is different I just find it so weird that people still find it normal to judge and sit and talk about other people's bodies like i find that's such a weird thing to do like why are you talking about people's bodies like it is so bizarre like genuinely not to be rude or anything but do you lack that much substance to your personality do you lack that much death that you have to talk about someone's body and how much

weight they have because how have you not got something better at to talk about like it's so so weird now listen i get it i get it like it can be something where you know it might be a bit normalised within your friendship group or whatever and you do have to start listening and start like research and these things about you know like um body beauty standards and where these beauty standards originate from where where are the from like why yeah you should be really questioning your own you should be questioning like your own belief system all of the time yeah 100% I think people just need to be more mindful about it um but like growing confidence it does take a while like it took me years it's not a linear process at all like no and

this is the thing you can be confident and you can have days where you are not confident again it's up and down like you have to constantly be teaching and training yourself like so when you your mind because i do this all the time like there's times where obviously i show up on social media and i'll i'll show me body and i'll show me stretch marks and i'll show all these things that are apparently, you know, like, I don't know, bad. I don't know how explained it. I'll show these things, the cellulite and the wrinkles

between my eyes. It's normal. So normal. But there is times where you do look at I mean, for me personally, it's when I'm PMS and when I'm coming due on. Yeah. I'm due on. I'm so hard on myself. I'm like, oh, I feel awful. I feel sluggish. And now I'm a bit better with it because I'm just like,

I'm due on. I'm a woman. This is what happens. Exactly. You literally look a little bit rubber on the edges sometimes and that's fine we are bleeding for a whole week every month can you imagine like we're bleeding can you imagine do you know what I mean the body's just openly just honestly just doing it yeah exactly which is wild it's actually mad if you think about it but I think yeah going back to growing confidence like it does take a while I think positive affirmations are such a huge thing I tell you what that's been revolutionary for me I'm not going to lie yeah it's so good I'm going to like because don't get it's wrong when you first right listen when you first do

your affirmations it's going to sound weird you're not going to believe it you're not going to look in the mirror and believe what you're saying but over time the more that you say it the more you say like you know I am worthy I'm deserving I am beautiful I don't need to change a thing about myself and you don't and that's not saying that you don't have to have goals like listen if you want to go in the gym and you want to tone your body up and whatever that's not saying but you can love yourself in your being yeah the way that you are right now exactly but also in your becoming and who you becoming and who you want to be and what your goals are and stuff like that yeah so having the affirmations definitely do the affirmations but also have like your little goals and stuff for yourself yeah it's about balance I feel it is about balance and it's okay like come here like I'm not going to sit here and say that I have never had anything done if I've like I've got my upper lip done do you know what I mean I have Botox but I'm confident to myself and I'm not um I'm not I'm not I'm not like purposely doing that to to fill myself with confidence.

And to feel confident. Not to feel confident. Just because I like it. It adds to how I feel. Exactly. It's not the underlying tone. If you couldn't get it, it wouldn't be an issue. It wouldn't be an issue.

It would be annoying as fuck because you've had it and you've enjoyed it. Yeah. But if someone said, you better take their lips out right now. Like if someone literally said take them out, you would. I would. It's not a huge issue. I just enjoy getting you done. It's really difficult, isn't it?

Because there's like a fine line between. like you know self-maintenance getting your hair done get your lashes done getting your nails done getting your lips good on getting a little bit of Botox and then the other end where you're going you're literally going really really far yeah but I think at the same time all it really comes down to is if you feel good and I think doing it from a place sorry I'm skitting your face mask keeps slipping off I know can you say it it keeps going off I know it's really annoying I don't know where to put it pull it I'll pull it open.

Yeah, pull it open. There you go. Oh, she opened quickly. Oh, she did. Open like a little lotus, didn't she? Yeah. Oh, she's really opening up. Slipping up.

Yeah. But I think ultimately it comes from a, it should come from a place of, it should come from a place of love. That's what I think. Yeah. It should come from a place of love and people can do what they want and that's absolutely fine. Of course. I think if it makes you feel good. Yeah, exactly.

I think as long as you're confident enough and also, So like, get these, I don't, I don't have no issue of people getting any sort of work done. Absolutely. You do honestly what makes you happy, 100%. But if you're getting stuff done because you feel so shit, it's not, it's masking it. Yeah. It is masking it. But I have no issue with people, you know, getting this done, getting that done.

Cameras has said, I've had work done myself. I've had my lips done. I mean, I've had filler in other places years ago. But I got that done in. in I had like filler in I think my nose and random places but I got that done when I wasn't confident and that really didn't have fixed the issue

yeah and that's the thing and I got my teeth done as well and listen I'm not gonna say that like I don't like them and I regret them but if I had the opportunity to get my normal teeth back I would would you and it's not that I don't like them because I do like they look great

but I just feel like I didn't need to do it I really didn't need to do it and I think because everyone around has had it you know like everyone that I knew most people had it and I felt like I needed to get it it was almost like the thing that you do it was a trend it was a trend yeah and I jumped right on it

and I wish I hadn't but you were young as well I was I was young and I feel like it was a lesson learned and I'm just so glad that I didn't do other things that I got off had because obviously when again being in the public not anymore but like when I used to be in the public I don't even know

well well obviously I had a lot of like surgery companies approaches and stuff like that and I tell you what there was a few times where I nearly done it you know and because I felt really shit about myself I did not feel good in my body but my mum was just like do not do it because I'm telling you now you'll regret

it and I was like oh okay yeah and also I'm the type person where I think something will go wrong for me oh yeah same but I was always terrified but as I said like it's like we have no issue of people getting stuff done is just getting done for the wrong reason because it doesn't

help just and help no no because we know a few people like well i do from years ago who who got stuff done who weren't in a good place and they're just like regretting stuff now you know and it's kind of like it gets a bit addictive as well i feel oh yeah easily like yeah 100% because it's like it's like getting a tattoo i love getting a tattoo it's addictive yeah do you know what i mean it's the same kind of feeling it is you know well i doubt that for you know like that addictive the addictive it's like an endorphin hate and it's like a rush of energy. I think it also it's like it's probably I mean again I can't really speak for people who have experienced it because I haven't experienced it but all I can think of is they think they're going to feel better afterwards and they're going to feel

amazing afterwards and they probably do but then there's another thing that comes up and they might need this other thing and there's a brand new treatment that comes up and you get the bottle fat removal then you get under the jaw done and then you get your fox eye and then you get and it's just a never end in cycle and you have to ask yourself why yeah I was third. close to getting the fox eyes so close because i've got hooded eyes and this is so wild so years ago when i was like 18 basically i got lashes done by this woman in my hometown in my home city and um she said to me she made a passing comment and she said you've got quite droopy eyes and since then i've had such an issue with like because that's why we're a winged eyeliner all the time okay just to give

my eyes another like a bit of a lift so that is something that like I'm not confident really on my eyes which is such a small thing like do you know what I mean so I was so close to getting the fox eye treatment and then but is fox eye not like where they pull it back they pull it back but they don't actually take away the the lid you know there's no that's a separate treatment and I was also close to getting that I was so close to getting that last year and I didn't I had it all set up I was going in for my consultation and I was thinking and my friend would like to me why would you get that done now you were 29 if you need it done when you're 50 fair enough yeah because whatever even then when you think about it's like what meant to age

it's very we are supposed to age I'm going to say something that may be controversial here but I think yes we are meant to age but I personally would probably like a facelift when I'm like 60 oh really I think I would just because why not I mean if if it comes to you comes down the line and I want to get it done why not I guess yeah never say never change your mind but I mean but like then again I may not yeah but I

my friend's mom has gotten a face lift and she looks absolutely banging but then you have to ask yourself like why is this thing about where women have to because do you get a lot of men but only if you do it for yourself oh if you did I would be doing it for myself not for not for men

sure I wouldn't care hopefully I have a husband who love me regardless. And I'll be doing it for myself. Can you imagine that being 60 and then just I know that would be a bit like my friend's mom I'll show you a photo after she looks absolutely amazing for her age but like then again I may not want it but it's just like you know who knows at that day and age but yeah I think beauty standards nowadays you're impossible if they're impossible a thing so I think just do what do what makes you happy and do it from a place of love don't do it from a place of I hate my I hate my bow. someone do it from a place of love being like I love my body I do love my body yeah but this is

what I want and if I didn't get it and if I didn't get the consultation and it didn't work out and I wasn't able to get it fine I'm not asked you definitely need to do it from a place of love because beauty standards or beauty trends change all the fact that female bodies are a trend is absolutely disgusting and wild you look at like the 2000s trend of Kate Moss etc then you look to the trend of like a few years ago was the Kardashian trend of you and then now it's going back and like now it's going back and it's always changing like it's it makes me physically sick it really does how like women's it's never men's bodies that are a trend never never never it's like well I mean not say never but you know but nine times out of ten it's the women's bodies that who are

made a trend 100% I feel like it it is it's very like oh it's just so, so long, draining. It is so draining. Like, you just have to really, really work on your mindset, I feel when it comes to this stuff, because, like, it can be very difficult, especially with social media and stuff now. Like, you really, really have to cultivate a strong,

a strong sense of self, I feel. Yeah, when it comes to, like, looking online and seeing all of this stuff. But again, it's just so difficult to navigate. Yeah, it is. And that's why I think, like, for all, like, well, for obviously this podcast, as we want to touch on these kind of subjust and stuff because like if we do have any people

who are a little bit younger than us like this is I just feel like it's like such a positive thing to try and make sure that people understand that they are literally perfect the way that they are now yeah only thing that you'll have to work on is your mindset towards yourself exactly your mindset towards yourself and valuing it and loving yourself as you are and again in your becoming 100% I think if I had people who would give me advice when I really struggled with my skin and putting on weight, etc.

Like social media wasn't a huge thing back then. Only a few people had Instagram, Instagram Reels. TikTok, that wasn't a thing. And it was never talked about. And I think like podcasts weren't really a thing either. So like I never got any advice. I just had to really sit with myself and like figure out what I'm doing. How do I grow with this confidence?

and now that people can easily access content like this I think it's so important to tell the younger people and the older people like it's not just young people who struggle with it like people get adult acne I definitely still have adult acne like I get spots like quite a lot like there's probably one week every three months where I won't have a spot and that's like once in a blue moon like I still get it but like it doesn't affect me the same way

like I'll still show up online without makeup on the stuff stories maybe and whatnot and I'll go out on walks without makeup that take that honestly if I told that to my younger self I would never have believed it yeah do you know it takes a while to build up the confidence yeah people need to know it's not overnight but it's not overnight it's not linear no it's not something that you're going to just wanty just confident your confidence is going to dip it's going to go up and down and it's like the peaks and troughs of life but now just think trying to navigate it the best that you can you know yeah exactly no one's perfect

there's no such thing apart from me yeah I'm sorry sorry we're sorry well lying I'm perfect perfect doesn't exist it really doesn't not beauty standards

are just a load of crap yeah humans are inevitably flawed in every single way shape and form but for some reason like it's it's just like for some reason nobody gets that

nobody understands it and everyone expects people to be perfect and I'm quite bad at that as well to be fair like I do have like high expectations of others and sometimes I maybe just need to chill out of it you know yeah but I think that's only human we're we're here on this earth to learn yeah the whole life is just about learning and like obviously no you're not going to be 10 out of 10 and your mindset and etc like your whole life you're learning do you know what I mean so yeah this face mask oh no i'm taking it off are you oh mine's still like solid is it solid like no it's in solid on my face you've got a bit of face mask right there above you're right show me there you go oh there we go but yeah i think do you know what's helped me lot as well it's

like journaling and all that and you your idea of the um what is it the voice memo with the affirmations i'm going to sleep with them is brilliant yes because obviously when you so i like to listen to things like um so like basically like sleep affirmations so especially well most of the time when i'm going through a little bit of a bad spell in my life like i don't know if i go through a break up or you know if i'm feeling really um like depressed or anything like that i like to go on to youtube and do like um subconscious subconscious affirmations subliminal they're called subliminal affirmations yeah sleep affirmations for anxiety for grieving for um i don't stress or depression or there's loads of different ones that you can

pick from and just listening to that and i think just even the act of doing that it's a self-care thing you're trying to look after yourself yeah i mean like i just be like yeah it's just i love wellness and self-care i really do it's so important it's so so otherwise you don't realize how important it is until you get a bit older i think because i never used to do this stuff like I just, I used to go out, I used to party. I wasn't asked. Now I'm like, no, I'm actually, the minute you get into your 30, you're like, wellness, self-care, love her, love her, love her girls.

So help this, even if this helps one person get through something. A hundred and be the best day ever. Also, yes, yes. Let's do a little, a few tips. I'll do a few tips and then I'm going to go because I'm chatting. I'm going to bed. I've got my face mask off and I'm going to bed now. So tips for,

So making sure that you're getting good sleep, that's really good for your mental well and make sure that you're eating really well so you're diet as well. And especially like say when you were saying before about acne and stuff so some of that can be gut. So gut health.

Got health, yeah. Make sure you're trying to look after your gut health doing your nice pressed juices and all of that. Yeah. Is it pressed or is it squeezed? Pressed, cold pressed. All right, well, any juice. It's fine.

Yeah, fresh juice. Fresh juice. Not the ones for all the sugars in it. Not tropicana and all that. No, no. not tropiconal oh just like things like that um and then also cultivating good like friendships and make sure that you in um non-stressful environments because that can have a really big toll on your mental well-being that's a huge one the whole your environment you're part of your huge environment

so like who you're hanging around with that is that's the biggest well that combined with eating well and sleeping well those three you're on to an absolute gold mind I tell you what I tell you what right go and search the wheel of wellness go and search the wheel of wellness

and that'll give you a little bit of an indication on like the areas of your life that you should focus on to try and have a really nice balanced life yeah balance is the key obviously you're not gonna like not ever drink again

you know what I mean it's all about balance it is about balance like that's what wellness is to us is balanced like we're not saying that we're not saying that we're not going to go and get absolutely shit-faced next month. I'm going to be using them glasses tomorrow.

I'm going to get me glad around, so I'm going to be necking out with that glass tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With balance, it's not doing it four times a week like we used to. Do you know what I mean? It's maybe like once a month, twice a month, whatever. 100%.

Balancing your mindset, balancing your body love, balancing your life, balance where your food, balance where you sleep out, balance, all the balance. Yeah, exactly.

That's the healthiest way to go. And yeah, do you know what? A huge thing for me at the moment is vitamins. I love vitamins. and I've never taken before well I did when I was younger I felt such a difference

lion's mane is a huge one from my mind to focus and iron like iron vitamin C all that I've really found they've helped I'm terrible with the vitamins I'm not gonna lie

you need to me too you need to get the little box with the days on it and have it either next to your bedside locker when you go to sleep or when you wake up or down here by your coffee machine

just where you see it yeah and you remember because I always forget as well But then again, I like to get my vitamins, I so like my shots. So like me, you know, we press shots, my juices, because I like to do juices. So I do, you could still do juices and then, but like iron and things like that. And I'm in vitamin D and stuff.

Like, things like that. That wouldn't maybe be in the juice. I don't know. But I think vitamins is a huge thing. Herbaltase. Oh, God. I'll tell you what, in the little description, I'll write a little list for you as for all a cutesy little, if you're in, you well, if you're one of the wellness girlies,

then we'll, we'll put some tips in the description for you. Yes. But self-care anyway And just being healthy, getting good sleep That's it That's it That's our little self-care We're off to bed now

Yeah, no, we are, we're holding on now I feel very tired I feel very sleeping Me too Yeah, thank you so much for tuning in And obviously leave any comments down below We'll love to hear what you've got to see And we love you so much

We love you so dearly Thank you so much for giving us all this love And support us this far Yeah, we love you lot Yeah. See the next episode. See ya. Bye.