Renowned for being one of the most gorgeous women in the UK limelight, Holly Willoughby has revealed that she was fat-shamed at the beginning of her career.
An aspiring model, Holly had her first meeting with an agent at just 17. The comments made during the appointment changed the course of her career forever.
The TV star opened up about the experience in her tell-all book, Reflections (published 28th October).
Holly has previously been open about her background as a teen model. Having been spotted at 14, she appeared in a number of magazines for other teenage girls before moving onto lingerie modelling.
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After signing to an agency, the star started going to casting calls and auditions around London and Australia.
It was there that she began to receive unsolicited comments about her weight. "I spoke to my London agency to see what [the Australian agency] said", she wrote. "The comment I got back was: 'we'll put her weight down to healthy eating while travelling'".
The host of This Morning was aware of her 'tiny' size at the time, and this wasn't the feedback she was expecting to hear.
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"I just thought, wow. I could look in the mirror and see that I was 17 and tiny," she said. "So to hear a comment like that was complete and utter shock".
The comments had an extra sting in the tail, as Holly believed her Australian bookers were "really nice".
The comments made during the meeting enabled the presenter to re-think the trajectory of her career.
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"I saw for myself the brutal and [...] ugly side of what I'd always thought was the most beautiful place. I realised then that it was no for me".
It wasn't long until Holly would land presenting gigs for CBBC's Fame Academy and CITV's Ministry Of Mayhem, alongside Steven Mulhern. She's since gone on to become a household name, starring as a regular presenter for This Morning and landing a hosting stint for I'm A Celeb in 2018.
Featured Image Credit: Credit: AlamyTopics: TV And Film, This Morning, Holly Willoughby