Tyra Banks, ‘I would try to stuff food down my throat to gain weight.’

Most of us know Tyra Banks for being a drop-dead gorgeous model, along with her hit show ‘America’s Next Top Model’ and philanthropic work. And while some young girls may assume that she’s had a picture perfect life, Tyra recently opened up sharing a different experience that she struggled with. In an interview with Huffington Post she talked her drastic weight loss when she was only 11 years old, and challenges with weight.

When I was 11 years old, I grew three inches and lost 30 pounds in three months. So I went from being a mean bully, cute little chubby little girl to shooting up, [weighing] 98 pounds and just looking sick and frail. I wasn’t sick, but people thought there was something wrong with me. I was the brunt of every joke, every bad thing. I hated my reflection in the mirror. I would try to stuff food down my throat to gain weight. Nothing would work. I lived at the hospital with needles in my arms trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

She continued:

Even though I later gained weight and became a supermodel, that girl always lived inside of me and I know what that felt like. Then to become a supermodel with all of this hair and makeup and glamour… Then I start projecting images that I know make my 11-year-old self insecure, I felt like I had and still have a responsibility to tell the truth and to talk about my pains, my issues. So my passion is girls and self-esteem.

Tyra has also been very open about her weight gain. Flashback to 2010 when Tyra told her critics to kiss her fat *ss after a not so flattering picture of her in a one piece was on the cover of every tabloid. We think Tyra looks great at any size, but at 38 years young, she’s certainly killin’ you young hoes (*myself included*).

@LoveShake_