Linda Evangelista says she doesn’t look like Vogue cover in real life

Linda Evangelista has posed for the prestigious fashion mag – but she wants everyone to know the reality behind the incredible snaps.

Linda Evangelista has graced the front cover of British Vogue magazine after revealing she was left “brutally disfigured” by a botched beauty treatment – but she wants people to know she doesn’t look like the stunning photos in “real life”.

The Canadian supermodel model has been in “hiding” for the past six years after claiming she was left “permanently deformed” by a rare reaction to a popular cosmetic treatment.

Evangelista filed a US$50 million ($68 million) damages lawsuit against Zeltiq Aesthetics, the company behind CoolSculpting – a fat-freezing procedure performed globally, including here in Australia – in September, alleging she developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia or PAH, a risk she says she wasn’t made aware of before having the procedure.

But after keeping a low profile since having the procedure in 2016, the 57-year-old has just landed the September cover of the prestigious British fashion mag.

Linda Evangelista has landed the front cover of British Vogue’s September issue. Picture: Steven Meisel/Vogue

In the gorgeous cover shoot with celebrity make-up artist Pat McGrath, Evangelista can be seen modelling an array of elaborate headwear.

The cover image shows Evangelista wearing a red patent scarf around her neck, with a crimson bucket hat perched on the top at an angle and a matching metallic jacket.

Another shot shows the supermodel, who rose to fame in the 90s, in an all pink scarf, hat and coat ensemble.

While a third black and white image emulates the same look but in leopard print items.

But despite the fact Evangelista looks “incredible” in the photos, she made an effort to stress her face, jaw and neck had been taped back.

“That’s not my jaw and neck in real life – and I can’t walk around with tape and elastics everywhere,” she said in the accompanying interview.

“You know what, I’m trying to love myself as I am, but look, for photos I always think we’re here to create fantasies.

“We’re creating dreams. I think it’s allowed. Also, all my insecurities are taken care of in these pictures, so I got to do what I love to do.”

Evangelista also said the high-profile gig, which comes just weeks after she posed for a new advertising campaign for Italian fashion house Fendi, was not “a comeback”.

“Am I cured mentally? Absolutely not. But I’m so grateful for the support I got from my friends and from my industry…,” she told Vogue.

“You’re not going to see me in a swimsuit, that’s for sure. It’s going to be difficult to find jobs with things protruding from me; without retouching, or squeezing into things, or taping things or compressing or tricking.”

The supermodel also opened up about why she chose to undergo the CoolSculpting treatment she claims “did the opposite of what it promised”.

“Those CoolSculpting commercials were on all the time, on CNN, on MSNBC, over and over, and they would ask, ‘Do you like what you see in the mirror?’ They were speaking to me,” she said.

“It was about stubborn fat in areas that wouldn’t budge. It said no downtime, no surgery and…I drank the magic potion, and I would because I’m a little vain.

“So I went for it – and it backfired.”

The 90s supermodel said she’s ‘unrecognisable’ after having a popular fat-freezing procedure. Pictured here in February. Picture: Elder Ordonez / SplashNews / Media Mode

Linda pictured at the height of her modelling fame. Picture: Evan Agostini/Getty Images

Evangelista’s claims she was left “unrecognisable” by the procedure were revealed when she filed the bombshell lawsuit in September.

Within three months of having a series of treatments, she said she began to notice bulges at her chin, thighs and bra area.

These were the same areas she claims she had treated with CoolSculpting, explaining the lumps grew and hardened before finally “turning numb”.

“I tried to fix it myself, thinking I was doing something wrong,” Evangelista told People, adding she turned to dieting and exercising in a bid to resolve the issue.

“I got to where I wasn’t eating at all. I thought I was losing my mind.”

She wants people to know her face doesn’t look like this in real life, revealing she had her face taped for the shoot. Picture: Steven Meisel/Vogue

As a result, she said she can no longer look in the mirror because “it doesn’t look like me” explaining the “bulges” are painful and prevent her from walking with ease.

“If I walk without a girdle in a dress, I will have chafing to the point of almost bleeding. Because it’s not like soft fat rubbing, it’s like hard fat rubbing,” she claimed.

Despite her heartbreaking ordeal, she’s been inundated with support, with her latest Vogue cover being met with huge applause.

“Brava Linda. You deserve all this love,” one fan wrote on Instagram.

“The queen is back,” another declared.

“Simply gorgeous and always captivating,” someone else mused.