Thorpe shares body image agony
FORMER beauty queen Courtney Thorpe has warned against the potential dangers of the industry, revealing she struggled with eating disorders amid the pressures to lose weight.
In a new episode of her podcast series More Than Just A Mum, released on Monday, Thorpe, 32, shared her experience with eating disorders for the first time, saying she lost 12kg in three months before being crowned Miss World Australia in 2014 through a dangerous cycle of starvation and diet pills.
It took a devastating toll on her body and self-worth that continued during her modelling and presenting career in Queensland over the next five years. When she first entered modelling and pageantry., Thorpe recalled being told by her agent “until you lose weight I can’t put you forward for jobs.”
“When you have this sort of mindset, getting into a world like modelling is probably the worst thing you can do,” she said on the podcast.
“Then I entered pageants. That, by far after all the battles I’ve had with food and my weight, pageants was the height of it.”
Miss World Australia has changed ownership since Thorpe competed in 2014 and she now works closely with its new owners.
At the time she entered the competition, wearing sizes 8 to 10, she was told by members of the former organisation that “facially you’re great, but you need to lose so much weight if you want to win this”.
“I had to lose 10kg in three months. I said ‘yeah, I’ll do this. I want this so bad’,” Thorpe explained.
Listen to Thorpe’s full story on More Than Just A Mum, with new episodes released each Monday.
For support contact The Butterfly Foundation via the National Helpline on 1800 33 4673 or at butterfly.org.au