Photo: Kevin Kane/FilmMagic
ModelErin Heathertonis getting candid about the pressure she felt to meetVictoria’s SecretAngel-level beauty standards.
In a new podcast that investigates the controversial history and cultural impact of Victoria’s Secret entitledFallen Angel, Heatherton — who earned her wings in 2010 before leaving the brand in 2013 — told hosts Justine Harman and Vanessa Grigoriadis the extreme measures she took to maintain her figure.
Heatherton, who will appear in both episodes 5 and 8, said body image pressures pushed her “over the edge a little bit.” Beyond dieting and exercising, the model said she also saw a nutritionist who “started me on this diet pill called phentermine [anamphetamine-like prescription appetite suppressant], which my therapist later called ‘bathwater meth.'”
“I don’t know. I was just like, ‘Let me Lance Armstrong this because I’m renovating my condo. I can’t lose my job right now.’ I started injecting myself with HCG [a hormone produced during pregnancycalled human chorionic gonadotropin].”
“I was just like, ‘Help me lose weight. What do people do?’ He suggested something this other model did that worked for her. This is this nutritionist to the stars, whatever. I don’t know. I started like a diabetic injecting my stomach every morning,” Heatherton continued. “I look back at it as like emotional cutting because I was so against everything that I was doing, but I was just reluctantly doing it almost to feel the pain or feel how wrong it was.”
The runway veteran (who has also appeared in the covetedSports IllustratedSwimsuit issueand modeled for the likes of Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Prada) also described how she felt working for the lingerie company.
“I don’t have any faith that these people really cared about me,” she said. “You know what I’m saying? It’s just about business.”
She says she did “a lot of work on forgiveness and is “not mad” and has no “ties” to Victoria’s Secret any longer, but wanted to speak out to help anyone else struggling with body issues.
“I share my story again because I don’t want anyone to have an eating disorder or hate their bodies,” she said. “I know what that feels like. I speak out only for people that might hear me and think, ‘Hey, that makes sense,’ or maybe that might change their attitude towards how they treat themselves.”
She continues, “I think that aspirational [body] goals can exist without illness and eating disorders. When you have an eating disorder, you lose your freedom. When you are confined to this shape it consumes your life.”
These days she says she’s in a better headspace. “I really practiced to get to where I am,” she said.
“There is a new leadership team at Victoria’s Secret who is fully committed to the continued transformation of the brand with a focus on creating an inclusive environment for our associates, customers and partners to celebrate, uplift and champion all women,” the company told PEOPLE in a statement.
In 2016, Heathertonwrote candidlyabout the doubts she felt in the modeling industry inan Instagram post.
“I was struggling with my body image and the pressures to fulfill the demands of perfectionism upon me,” she said at the time. “I am not perfect.”
“I made a choice to redirect my energy to be a catalyst for change,” Heatherton continued. “To create a channel for women to become the truest versions of themselves, along with me. In the end, if you aren’t being true to yourself, then what the f— is the point.”
Victoria’s Secretmade headlines earlier this year when it replaced its iconic Angels with a new set of spokeswomen under its VS Collective, including actressPriyanka Chopra Jonas, soccer starMegan Rapinoe, Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio (who became the brand’sfirst transgender model in 2019) and many more who “share a common passion to drive positive change.”
Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
As part of the newly-formed initiative, Victoria’s Secret also launched theVS Voices Podcast, earlier this month on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
The latest initiatives come nearly two years after the end of the Victoria’s Secret Angel title and the subsequentcancelation of the show in Nov. 2019due to criticism that the brand didn’t embrace models of all sizes and backgrounds on its runway.
In Feb. 2020, Leslie H. Wexner, the longtime chairman and CEO of L Brands, which owns the lingerie giant,stepped down, following scrutinyfor his business ties withJeffrey Epstein.
Heatherton’s appearance on episode 5 ofFallen Angelis available Nov. 3.
source: people.com
