Tyra Banks has spoken about how it upsets her when tabloids criticise her weight.
The chat show host has gained 30lbs (2 stone) since quitting modelling, which has proved popular with fans.
“I get so much mail from young girls who say, ‘I look up to you, you’re not as skinny as everyone else’,” Tyra explains.
“So when [magazines] say that my body is ugly and disgusting, what does that make those girls feel like?”
But Tyra says she’s not totally happy with her fuller-figure: “I still feel hot, but every day is different. It’s when I put on the jeans that used to fit a year ago and don’t fit now and give me the muffin top, that’s when I say, ‘damn!’”
“I feel more comfortable when I’m lighter - I sleep better, I snore less, I have more endurance when I work out, my arms look better.”
“[But] if I was in pain, I would have dieted. The pain is not there - the pain is someone printing a picture of me and saying those things.”
