Hayley Hasselhoff was "picked on" as a child for being overweight.
The 24-year-old plus size model might have grown up in a privileged A-List family as her father is former ‘Baywatch’ star David Hasselhoff, but Hayley admits she was bullied as a child because of her size.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph newspaper, she said: "I was picked on a lot as a child. One time that most stands out is during a dance at school. I heard this boy say, ‘I got the fat girl.’ Afterwards, I told my mother, ‘Don’t ever make me go again.’ It was awful. But I just wasn’t formed the same way as everyone else."
But now, Hayley is happy with how she looks and is pleased with the rise in plus size girls on catwalks, as there "was nothing" when she started modelling aged 14.
She said: "The number of bigger girls on the catwalk is ever-growing. When I was 14 and starting out, there was nothing, but now there’s so much plus-size on the high street – even in high fashion."
Hayley recently unveiled her first collection for British fashion retailer Elvi, and has cited her fashion designer inspiration as Victoria Beckham, despite the former Spice Girl’s controversial choice to use very thin models during her New York catwalk show.
Hayley said: "I aspire to be her, because she started from ground zero and built her way up to a couture line. That’s what I want to do, and it’s why I’m working with Elvi. I love clean lines and want everything to be chic and simple. That often doesn’t come through in plus-size."
And Hayley is a firm believer in making sure models take care of themselves, saying that it’s "unbelievably terrible" that some girls feel the need to starve themselves for the sake of their work.
She said: "It’s unbelievably terrible. And we definitely need more talks about that to protect those girls."
Hayley Hasselhoff: I was bullied for being fat
