Anti-Bullying Week 2019: Hayley Hasselhoff opens up about body shaming

Kicking off our Anti-Bullying campaign this week is size 16 model, Hayley, sharing her life-changing experiences and why she believes clothes size should not define us

‘Anti-bullying is something very dear to my heart. I believe it’s so important to share our own personal stories so others will know they’re not alone. And also share a few tips on how to stand strong and be confident.

Growing up I strived to be different, to be an individual and to stand on my own. I found my confidence in allowing fashion to guide my self-love towards my body image. Although there were many times I was challenged not only by society’s standard of beauty but by the fashion industry’s idea of size inclusivity.

As a teenager I heard words of hate towards my body – words that made me walk away from taking part in important life experiences, such as leaving my swim team. And these hateful words forced me to keep to quiet about what I was feeling. Fortunately though, over the years I grew strong, thanks to working in the plus size industry and seeing at a young age that beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes.

So fast forward to today and if I’m put down because of my body it only gives me a sense of ammunition to love myself even more. These days I can shy away from the hateful words I may receive about my size but I can’t shy away from not feeling that my size is represented in fashion. Walking into a store today, even for myself as a size 16, I know I’m going to run into that one sales employee who looks down on me because I’m asking for a bigger size. It is absolutely mortifying and I always say the fight for curve is just another fight for equality for all. We need to lift up one another, congratulate ourselves for being unique and learn from the differences we all have. There is a beauty in taking ownership of our individuality.

Don’t ever let someone make you feel less because you are you. You have so much to give to this world and your body should not define you. But hey if it did, we’d all just think, ‘Dang that girl is sexy’

Maria Coole is a contributing editor on Marie Claire.

Hello Marie Claire readers – you have reached your daily destination. I really hope you’re enjoying our reads and I'm very interested to know what you shared, liked and didn’t like (gah, it happens) by emailing me at: maria.coole@freelance.ti-media.com

But if you fancy finding out who you’re venting to then let me tell you I’m the one on the team that remembers the Spice Girls the first time round. I confidently predicted they’d be a one-hit wonder in the pages of Bliss magazine where I was deputy editor through the second half of the 90s. Having soundly killed any career ambitions in music journalism I’ve managed to keep myself in glow-boosting moisturisers and theatre tickets with a centuries-spanning career in journalism.

Yes, predating t’internet, when 'I’ll fax you' was grunted down a phone with a cord attached to it; when Glastonbury was still accessible by casually going under or over a flimsy fence; when gatecrashing a Foo Fighters aftershow party was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy and tapping Dave Grohl on the shoulder was... oh sorry I like to ramble.

Originally born and bred in that there Welsh seaside town kindly given a new lease of life by Gavin & Stacey, I started out as a junior writer for the Girl Guides and eventually earned enough Brownie points to move on and have a blast as deputy editor of Bliss, New Woman and editor of People newspaper magazine. I was on the launch team of Look in 2007 - where I stuck around as deputy editor and acting editor for almost ten years - shaping a magazine and website at the forefront of body positivity, mental wellbeing and empowering features. More recently, I’ve been Closer executive editor, assistant editor at the Financial Times’s How To Spend It (yes thanks, no probs with that life skill) and now I’m making my inner fangirl’s dream come true by working on this agenda-setting brand, the one that inspired me to become a journalist when Marie Claire launched back in 1988.

I’m a theatre addict, lover of Marvel franchises, most hard cheeses, all types of trees, half-price Itsu, cats, Dr Who, cherry tomatoes, Curly-Wurly, cats, blueberries, cats, boiled eggs, cats, maxi dresses, cats, Adidas shelltops, cats and their kittens. I’ve never knowingly operated any household white goods and once served Ripples as a main course. And finally, always remember what the late great Nora Ephron said, ‘Everything is copy.’