Stick 12 celebrities in the African jungle with naught to do but wish a hot shower would materialise, and you’ve got yourself an emotional vacuum.
We’ve already seen I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Casey Donovan tearfully discuss how she was catfished for six bloody years, and now 2014 Miss Universe Australia Tegan Martin has opened up about her struggles with body image and acceptance in the fashion industry.
The 24-year-old claims she had no choice but to enter a beauty pageant after being branded “too fat” to compete on reality show Australia’s Next Top Model – ironic given one of the show’s current judges is Jen Hawkins, herself a former Miss Universe Australia and winner of Miss Universe 2004.
She told her visibly-shocked campm8s:
“The only thing you can do [to launch a modelling career in Australia] is Next Top Model or Miss Universe. I was too fat for Next Top Model. They just said, like, they made out like I was ‘too commercial.’”
In the world of modelling, you’re either considered ‘high fashion’ – someone with a look or body suited to the catwalk – or ‘commercial’, which means you’re better suited to campaign work for the likes of Bonds, Seafolly etc (nothing to sneeze at, given commercial work can equate to a whole lotta dough).
Tegan only made it through to the Top 50 when she auditioned for S7 of the Fox 8 series in 2011 – the year won by Montana Cox, who has gone on to walk for the likes of Valentino, Emilio Pucci, Bottega Veneta and Etro at fashion weeks around the world.
The Newcastle-born model admitted she had a “borderline eating disorder” at one point in her career, when she was trying to crack the industry in fashion capital Paris.
“I have always had curves like boobs and a bum … and that’s why when I lived in Paris I had to, like, starve myself to work. It is disgraceful but lucky I am out of that patch now.”
A spokesperson for Foxtel had no comment on Tegan’s comments.
Photo: Instagram / @teganmartin.
If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 ED HOPE / 1800 33 4673.
