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A Cheetos-mad mum who gorged on 320 family-sized packets during her pregnancy has joked that the spicy snack could be why her son was born with bright red hair.

Emelia Jackson, 23, said she went through at least eight family bags of flaming hot Cheetos per week to satisfy her cravings.

The mum-of-two got the shock of her life when her son Kai-Lono, now four months, was born with red hair despite both her and her partner having dark hair.

Kai-Lono's heritage is African-American, Portuguese, Hawaiian and Norwegian, and everyone keeps telling the family that he could have red hair because of her addiction to the bright red snack.

Before giving birth Montessori teacher Emelia proved her eternal love for the crisps by posing for a hilarious maternity photoshoot in a bathtub full of them.

(Image: Caters News Agency)

The 23-year-old got the idea after she and partner Janson Correa, 26, loved the elegant look of a milk bath photoshoot to celebrate the final weeks of her pregnancy - but decided she should dive into a bathtub of her beloved snack instead.

Emelia, who is also mum to Violet-Rae, five, said: "I've always loved flaming hot Cheetos ever since I was a little kid.

"I used to steal quarters from my parents money jar just so I could get my Cheeto fix at school. I'd buy three bags a day from the vending machine.

"These days, I'll hoard bags and bags of them at my house, just so I never run out.

(Image: Caters News Agency)

"When I go grocery shopping, I'll even crack open a bag right there in the store to keep me going while I walk around.

"Throughout my pregnancy, flaming hot Cheetos were all I ever wanted. I'd wake my boyfriend up in the middle of the night to go get me some Cheetos, because the cravings were so intense."

The mum, from Washington in the US, said: "My boyfriend is half Portuguese and Hawaiian, while I'm half African-American and Norwegian.

"So, to see him come out with red hair my partner sort of looked at me and laughed, like 'do we have something to talk about?'

"Everyone says that it's because I ate so many Cheetos that I turned his hair red."

Emelia has had to give up her favourite snack for now because she is breastfeeding, and her son won't be able to handle the spiciness of them.

(Image: Caters News Agency)

She said: "But I can't wait to be able to eat them again, I've missed them so much.

"I can hardly go a day without eating them. They're my favourite food."

Emelia, who gave birth to her son in October 2017, invested in 15 family-sized bags of flaming hot Cheetos before the photoshoot in August last year.

She revealed while the photoshoot in her own home with photographer Roxana Ramires was unforgettable, the clean up afterwards was 'painful and exhausting'.

Emelia said: "I knew I wanted to do a maternity photoshoot, but when I was looking at all the examples online, they were just all so beautiful and graceful.

"I am the most awkward person in the world. I cannot model or pose to save my life.

"I knew I'd look ridiculous trying to do an elegant milk bath. So, the idea just popped into my head to do a Cheetos bath.

(Image: Caters News Agency)

"A few photographers turned me down because they hated the idea, but then I found Roxana who was shocked at first, but then totally on board. She was amazing.

"I had to lay down in the bathtub first so that I wouldn't just crunch all the Cheetos when I hopped in.

"So, I positioned myself and then my mum just started dumping all these hot Cheetos over me."

She added: "It was the weirdest feeling ever. There was Cheeto dust getting everywhere and I was just trying not to get any into my eyes.

"My mum was telling me what to do and how to pose but I just couldn't do it.

"So I decided to just start eating the Cheetos while trying to be sexy and sultry, while letting the photographer snap the pictures.

"It was so much fun and just fits my personality so well. I have a weird sense of humour.

"The aftermath was horrific though. There was Cheeto dust all over my body and when I took a shower, it was dribbling to places you just don't want hot flaming Cheeto dust to be.

"It burned like crazy, but it was okay once I got it all off."

Emelia was in love with the photos afterwards and plans to frame them and hang them in her home.

She added: "I'd definitely consider doing another crazy maternity shoot in the future.

"Maybe a bath full of tacos or chicken nuggets. That would be amazing."