Model rejected by client for not being skinny enough

An Australian Victoria’s Secret model has shared a series of snaps that reveal the industry’s brutal obsession with size and how it made her feel.

Australian model Bridget Malcolm spent 14 years attempting to get as slim as she could, and when she put the weight back on, she faced a mental battle over a fear of food.

But this morning, the former Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show model from Perth took to her Instagram page to share her progress in overcoming her body battles, while also revealing brutal insight into the modelling industry.

She posted a series of confronting and honest images — the first two show her barely able to smile as she poses against a brick wall wearing a maroon bikini with heels, while the last two show her looking “strong and happy”.

Australian model Bridget Malcolm posted this photo weeks after she was rejected by a high-profile client. Picture: Instagram/ BridgetMalcolm

The client had accepted her before when she was ‘half an inch smaller’ than the image posted above. Picture: Instagram/ BridgetMalcolm

“This was me, a few weeks after I got rejected from a high-profile client,” Malcolm said about the first two images.

“And now. Strong and happy.”

She explained the reason for her rejection was “Bridget’s body does not look good enough”. “The girl in these photos hadn’t had a period in months and needed to sleep 12 hours a night in order to function,” Malcolm bravely explained.

“The most messed up part of all this, though, is that I had been accepted by this client when I was half an inch smaller in previous years.

In the same post, Malcolm shared this image, explaining how ‘strong’ and ‘happy’ she now feels after combating her eating disorder. Picture: Instagram/ BridgetMalcolm

“I am so thankful that all this is behind me. It has taken a lot of work and recovery, but I am so grateful that there is a place in the industry for me now at my healthy weight.”

In a blog on her website, Malcolm went on to explain she was now “free”.

“I feel free from food fear. Finally,” she said.

“I can honestly say that I am now free to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. And what I see in the mirror doesn’t change dramatically.”

However, it has not been an easy journey for the young model, who was scouted by an agency when she was just 14 years old.

Malcolm, who walked in the 2015 and 2016 Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, said via her blog: “Thinking back on my time in that space, I am always struck by how sick I was … I was completely fooling myself into believing that I was healthy, fit and an honest representation of a woman.

“The fact that I was rewarded with high-profile work because I had starved myself so effectively leaves me feeling extremely uncomfortable.”

Malcolm walks the runway during the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

She explained it had taken her a long time to find ways to deal with her eating disorder.

“To be OK with my body staying the same, with not viewing my body as a means by which to wage a personal war, has certainly been a struggle,” she said.

“I am aware of my mental tendencies. Whenever life gets rocky, I have a desire to not eat.

Whenever life goes particularly nicely, I also have a desire to not eat. Basically, when anything in my life changes, my knee jerk is to diminish in size.”

But Malcolm said these days she chooses not to indulge in those desires and does not entirely blame the modelling industry.

“It is very empowering. Self-knowledge is everything to me,” she said.

“I have always worked very hard to not blame the modelling industry or anyone within the industry for my mental struggles. Because it is no one’s fault, it is my burden to bear, and I am proud of myself for showing up to the work.”

THANKFUL FOR BEING REJECTED

Malcolm made an agreement with herself that she would only return to full-time modelling if, and only if, she was able to maintain her weight, be free to eat healthy and workout.

Malcolm, who has appeared in Playboy, promised to return full time to modelling only if she was able to maintain her weight, be free to eat healthy and exercise.

She said up until this year, she was expected to remain a hip size of 35 inches or under.

“My set point is at least an inch higher than that. It is just the way I am built. Some models maintain the required size effortlessly. I am not one of those girls,” Malcolm said on her blog.

“And that has certainly been a huge amount of pressure on me for the past 14 years of working as a model.”

When she was her smallest (hip size) of 33 inches, she was “rewarded” with her highest profile clients.

She was thankful for being rejected over gaining ‘half an inch’ as she said it helped her recover from her eating disorder.

But when she gained half an inch, she lost those clients after being told her body did not look “good enough”.

“I’mthankful that the sheer insanity of being rejected over half an inch of gain(which was not enough to get my periods back or stop my hair from falling out) was enough to get myself into recovery from my eating disorder,” Malcolm said.

“My full health has been a gift beyond my wildest dreams. I never want to lose it again.”