Pregnant Josie Cunningham has blamed her refusal to quit smoking on her unborn child – because instead of the girl she wanted, it’s a boy.

She says if she had known she was not having a daughter she would “most probably” have gone ahead with the abortion she’d planned so she could appear on TV.

Josie, 23, admits she has been smoking 20 a day and boozing at weekends when she has the girls over since learning she was expecting a third son – having quit weeks earlier after a psychic told her it was a girl.

She says: “The evening I found out the sex of the baby was when I lit up my first cigarette. I’m not proud of it – but I couldn’t stop myself. It changed everything.

“Once I’d finished the cigarette I found it difficult to focus on anything positive, so I had a small glass of wine. My intention was to have one, but before I knew it I was on my second and I’d smoked a whole packet of fags. Now I’m smoking 20 a day.

“I knew it could harm my child but it didn’t stop me. Deep down I know I wouldn’t be smoking or drinking if I knew I was having a girl.”

Josie was this week pictured smoking on her taxi-ride school run, which she has bragged is funded by the council to the tune of £6,000 a year as she is too much of a hate figure to use public transport.

Today the controversial glamour model, who shot to notoriety over her £4,800 NHS boob job, compares having a boy instead of a girl with driving a run-of-the-mill car rather than a luxury motor.

She says: “If you’ve already got a couple of Fords and you’re told your next car is going to be an Audi, your excitement goes through the roof.

“You make promises to yourself that you won’t smoke inside the car or let people eat takeaway food in it. But if it was another Ford those things wouldn’t be a problem.

“It’s the same for me with the smoking and drinking when pregnant with a girl as opposed to a boy.

“I know some people will find it disgusting that I started drinking and smoking again simply because I’m having another son, but I’m being honest.

“I wouldn’t be smoking or drinking if I knew I was having a girl.”

And she claims she is not the only mum to feel this way.

She says: “Deep down I know a lot of people are disappointed when they discover the sex of the child. The difference is I’m not scared to admit it.”

Read more of Josie's outrageous statements here.

(Image: Twitter)

The Sunday Mirror revealed in April how Josie wanted a termination so she could appear in Big Brother.

Her decision provoked public outrage, and she later changed her mind and told how she could not go through with the termination after feeling her baby kick for the first time.

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But now she claims her decision to keep her child was really based on her mistaken belief it was a girl.

And despite sex-selective abortion being illegal, she reveals: “If I’d known I was having another boy, would I have gone through with the termination? Most probably. But I thought I was having a girl.”

She adds: “GPs should be able to tell you the sex of your child earlier, so you can make an informed decision about termination. People have preferences, that’s fact.

“If I got pregnant again, with a fourth boy, would I keep it? No.

“If I got pregnant again with a girl, would I keep it? Definitely.”

Josie tells how she started to re-think her decision to have an abortion after receiving an email from a middle-aged woman on IVF who she says was so desperate for a baby she offered £5,000 for Josie’s.

The woman’s heartache gave her second thoughts, and Josie, from Leeds, turned for advice to a psychic.

She reveals: “It was her that told me I’d be having a little girl – that changed everything. I was going to have a little girl who I could pass on my life experiences to.

“I’d guide her on what not to do in life from my previous mistakes.

“I’m proud of myself and what I’ve achieved, but there are things I wouldn’t wish on any girl – and I thought about giving her help and advice.

“I couldn’t stop picturing a little pink room with pretty little dresses I could spoil her with. I was really excited.

“I couldn’t do it – I couldn’t terminate what I believed would be my first daughter.

“It being a girl changed everything.”

Excited Josie was even inspired to live a healthier life – for a while.

(Image: KGC Photo Agency)

“Once I decided to keep the baby, it took me a week to quit smoking completely,” she says.

“The thought of damaging my little princess was too much, and the excitement I had made me kick the nicotine addiction instantly. I also stopped drinking alcohol and made a real point of eating healthily.

“I started to look around baby shops. I fell in love with a pram perfect for a little girl and lots of pretty baby grows and toys. It was easy because my brain was filled with girls’ names, and I’d day-dream about growing up with a daughter who’d be my closest friend for life.

“I decided I would call her Karma. The psychic said she would look exactly like I did when I was a baby and that the next year would be filled with joy. I believed every word.”

Josie’s bubble was burst at her 23-week scan last month when she found the psychic’s prediction was wrong – and it was too late to change her mind again on the termination.

“The nurse asked if I’d like to know the sex, and I was so excited to hear the words ‘You’re having a baby girl’ I said yes,” she says.

“Then the nurse said ‘You’re having a boy’. My heart sank and I felt sick to my stomach that I had sacrificed so much to have my first daughter, only to be told I was having a boy. It ruined the whole scenario. I went home that afternoon and cried non-stop.”

Josie vented her anger in a stream of distressed tweets @JosieConline, writing: “Absolutely heartbroken/devastated/fuming!!!

“Never make life changing decisions based on advice from someone claiming they have psychic abilities!! So angry!!!!”

As her bump grows, she confesses she has lost all maternal instinct for the child and has stopped looking after herself.

The baby has two possible fathers – one a casual fling, the other a stranger she slept with while working briefly as a £1,000-an-hour escort. Neither looks likely to support her or the baby.

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Josie has provoked outrage over her taxpayer-funded plastic surgery and taxis, but takes a defiant pride in supporting her own family. She says: “I’m very proud to not be a single mother on benefits.

“I’m working hard at the moment and the rewards are just starting to show.”

And despite what she says about not wanting another son, she insists it will be happy families once he arrives.

“My maternal instincts will kick in and I’ll love him as much as my other two boys,” she says.

How her third son will feel once he’s old enough to understand what she now says about him, is another matter.