ALEXANDRA Burke has revealed she cut short her planned three month maternity leave and returned to work eight weeks after giving birth.
The pop star welcomed her first baby into the world in July with her fiancé, West Ham goalkeeper Darren Rudolph, 35.
Alexandra, 34, previously said she had pencilled in a three month break from her busy career as a singer and actress.
But in an exclusive interview Alexandra, who has chosen not to reveal their baby's gender, revealed she decided to return after two months to find herself again.
Alexandra said: “I went back to work two months after I gave birth.
“It has been challenging but it has been beautiful. It has been nice to feel like me again on stage.
“A lot of mothers tell me after giving birth it is hard to feel like yourself again and I totally understand that.
“It helped me feel like me again.
“I cannot sit still, that is my problem.”
Former X Factor winner Alexandra also said exercise was helping her get back to feeling her best.
The Broken Heels singer added: “I have been doing fasted cardio.
“You’re meant to do a minimum of 20 minutes and it helps with all kinds of body wellness - and I am trying to get back into shape too.
“We went away for our first family holiday last week and let me tell you, I was eating like it was going out of fashion.
“Any food that came my way I was like, ‘Give me that’. And I am never usually like that.
“I am on a mission to get back to feeling good. Not necessarily to lose weight but just to feel good again.”
Alexandra, who is currently in rehearsals for a show at the London Palladium, has partnered with MyFUGIFILM’s A Million Moments competition.
The campaign encourages entrants to share their imperfect moments on social media – something Alexandra said she is fully behind.
Alexandra explained: I will be honest with you – I am guilty of taking several photographs to get the perfect one.
“You look at social media and think, what is the truth and what is the reality?
“Now I’m a mum I am living in the moment and I don’t care about the perfect picture, it is always beautiful in my opinion
“The campaign is special because taking pictures and living in the moment is what we should be doing
“They say it takes nine attempts to get the picture you will post but I think it is more.
“My camera roll would have so many pictures of me doing the same thing trying to get the right shot and I don’t think that is healthy.
“There is nothing wrong if someone wants to use an editing app but personally I do not. You can meet some people and they don’t look like they do in their photograph.
“Becoming a mum I want to encourage the younger generation to live in the moment and not focus so much on how they look.”
Alexandra also opened up about partying with Geri Horner at her star-studded 50th birthday party last month.
Geri and Alex are both ambassadors of the Royal Commonwealth Society and are firm friends.
Alexandra said: “Geri is one of the kindest humans I have ever met, she holds a very special place in my heart.
“It was really beautiful to see the girls together at her party.
“I was a Spice Girls fan from a young age so the younger version of me could not believe she was in the room with all of them.
“Everyone had such a great time, it was such a special night – Geri is so loved.”
Alexandra Burke has collaborated with myFUJIFILM on its A Million Moments competition asking the nation to celebrate and share photos of their imperfect, everyday moments to be in with a chance of winning a host of prizes including a family weekend away.
To find out more information and enter, please visit https://myfujifilm.co.uk/pages/a-million-moments