Ada Nicodemou picture exclusive: My best body at 41

The Summer Bay star couldn’t be happier. - by Lauren Irvine

They say love comes when you least expect it, and that sentiment certainly rings true for Ada Nicodemou.

Rocking a red bikini while flaunting her enviable figure and washboard abs during a day at the beach with boyfriend Adam Rigby, it’s clear the 41-year-old is head over heels in love with the man she calls her “rock” and “soul mate”.

“I’m with the man of my dreams who makes me so happy and secure,” the mother-of-one gushed on Instagram on Jan. 1.

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Nicodemou and her dream man, businessman Rigby, first met two years ago at a work function – and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

In fact, the popular Home And Away star, who was previously married to Chrys Xipolitas and shares 6-year- old son Johnas with him, credits Rigby for turning her life around.

“Thank u for coming into my life and changing my world,” Nicodemou captioned a photo of them together on Instagram on Oct. 28 last year, marking two years since they’d first bumped into each other.

“You always put a smile on my face,” she captioned another.

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Reflecting on the year that was, Nicodemou, who plays long-time Summer Bay resident Leah Patterson-Baker on Australia’s most-loved TV drama, is the first to admit it’s had its ups and downs.

But the positives far outweigh any of the negatives.

“2018 has been such an eventful year for me,” she shared on social media along with a slideshow of photo memories, which include pictures of both Rigby and Johnas.

“My little man started school ... I’ve put myself first and achieved my body goals, gone on an amazing trip overseas and saw my best friends and my little brother get engaged. I’d have to say it’s been one of the best years of my life, but at times one of the most challenging years, too. Overall, I’ve learnt a lot.”

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So it comes as no surprise that Nicodemou plans to carry her newfound happiness into 2019.

“I’m living life to the fullest and I’m taking more risks,” she told WHO last year. “I’m no longer sweating the small stuff. I’m more comfortable in my skin, I know more and I’m happy to say more.”

Nicodemou, who’s in the best shape of her life thanks to regular exercise and following the Keto Diet, plans to maintain her health and fitness.

That means continuing to wake at 4.30am to work out at home, followed by a gym session in the afternoon.

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“I’m so proud of myself,” she explains of her amazing transformation, adding her routine consists of skipping, crab walks, sit-ups, push-ups, outdoor boxing, bodyweight exercises and powerlifting.

“I’ve got the best body I’ve ever had,” Nicodemou said of her transformation. “I feel stronger and my shape has changed ... my waist is smaller, my legs and arms have more shape and my booty has lifted – which was one of my goals.”

But for Nicodemou, it’s also about mental strength, too. She says it’s important to “be confident in your own skin,” and her advice to other women is simple: “You just have to decide to make time for exercise,” she wrote on Instagram in April, 2018.

In January last year, the actress also revealed her thoughts on ageing and cosmetic procedures. “Everyone should do whatever makes them feel good,” she told the Daily Mail when asked about Botox.

“I have no judgement on it whatsoever.”