Aus Model Bridget Malcolm Shared The ‘Sinister’ Shit She Saw While Working W/ Victoria’s Secret

Last night’s episode of 60 Minutes featured Aussie model Bridget Malcolm, who made some shocking claims about the “traumatic” experience of working as a Victoria’s Secret model.

Malcolm, who walked the runway for the underwear giant in 2015 and 2016, says she got a “very interior glimpse” at the “sick, unhealthy” standards upheld by the modelling industry while working with the company.

She claimed that Victoria’s Secret management made it “pretty clear” that the models must be super skinny.

Looking back on the footage from her runway days, she notes that although she appears to be smiling, she was, in fact, “dead” in the eyes.

By 2017, when she was 25, she recounts that she had stopped menstruating, her hair had fallen out, and she was so malnourished that it took her “10 minutes to climb a flight of stairs”.

“I just reached the top and I just had that awful hollow feeling of like, this is how the rest of my life is going to look like, unless I do something about it now,” she said.

“I had an eating disorder, I was relying on anti-anxiety medication, I was having panic attacks constantly, I was exhausted.

“My body was malnourished, my mind was malnourished, it was relentless. What that company represented for me and for so many other women was extremely exploitative at that time. To me it felt like controlling women.”

Bridget Malcolm claims that after gaining half an inch on her hips, she was dumped by Victoria’s Secret and told that she was “too big” to work for them.

Malcolm was scouted in Perth at the age of 14, and by 15, her agent had allegedly told her that she needed to lose weight in order to advance in her career.

“The longest I managed to go without eating was three days. And I had to quit because I kept passing out. And I was annoyed with myself because I was determined to make it to five days. I couldn’t function, I couldn’t move,” she recounted to 60 Minutes.

A Victoria’s Secret spokesperson has since told Daily Mail Australia that there’s “a new leadership team at Victoria’s Secret who is fully committed to the continued transformation of the brand with a focus on creating an inclusive environment for our associates, customers and partners to celebrate, uplift and champion all women.”

Back in June, Victoria’s Secret revealed it was in the midst of a complete rebrand, including a line-up of “diverse spokeswomen.”

All the previous Angels have been given the boot and replaced with a “culturally relevant” group of women.

If you would like to speak to someone about the issues raised in this article, you can contact The Butterfly Foundation (1800 33 4673), headspace (online services) Lifeline (13 11 14) or BeyondBlue (1300 22 4636).

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