Stacey Solomon criticises Now magazine for 'bullying' cover

Stacey Solomon has hit out at gossip magazines for making women feel as though "they're not good enough".

The TV presenter was featured on this week's cover of Now magazine with the headline "Stacey 'boring', 'desperate', 'cheap' - why fans are sick of her".

The 28-year old Loose Women panellist shared the cover, external with her 1.44 million Twitter followers, writing: "That's the meanest thing I've ever seen."

Now magazine has released a statement apologising to Solomon.

In a follow-up tweet, external, Solomon accused the magazine of "constantly tearing people down in a bullying manner," and asked Now to explain itself in light of the large number of tweets in support of the former X Factor singer.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Solomon said: "I think a lot of people think it is part and parcel of the job and it's water off a duck's back, don't worry.

"And the majority of the time I do try and adopt that mentality, because I don't want anybody to have the power to make me feel a certain way. I want to be in control of how I feel and, you know, no matter how much somebody tries to drag me down I want to be able to go 'NO… I am not allowing you to do that.'

"But sometimes it does get in, I am a human being and sometimes it does really hurt."

In response, a Now magazine statement said: "The story featured in this week's issue of Now magazine regarding Stacey Solomon was written on the basis of social media comments about Stacey and is not the opinion of Now magazine.

It added: "We do not encourage or condone bullying in any form. We apologise to Stacey for any distress our story may have caused."

Solomon, who has worked with Childline and the NSPCC as a body image campaigner, cited a Children's Society survey which suggested more than a fifth of 14-year-old girls in the UK said they had self-harmed.

She said she believes negative comments in the media help fuel a feeling of self-doubt amongst young people.

"It's not so much the comments towards me that really upset me, I think it's the insinuation that nobody is good enough and the message that sends out to people and the effect that it has on people that actually really brings me down more than anything.

"It is just the messages we are giving out to people who might not have been able to spend the last 10 years building up a thick enough skin to bat these comments away - and subliminally telling people they are not good enough, that they need to change and that's why they're getting dumped or their relationship has broken down or they're losing friends, it's because they're not good enough.

"I just think that's an awful, awful message and it really does get to you sometimes, you just think 'I cannot believe this circus' and 'why we are doing this to young people?'"

A number of Solomon's celebrity friends rallied around her with supportive messages, including Strictly contestant Ashley Roberts and singer Olly Murs, who tweeted: "Can't believe they have used this as a headline. What a load of rubbish!"

Former I'm A Celebrity winner Vicky Pattinson wrote a long Instagram post, in support of her friend, ending it by saying: "Love you Stacey, don't let anything rain on your parade you star."

Click here to listen to the full interview. The Anna Foster programme is broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live, Monday to Thursday, 10:00 - 13:00 BST.