Meet fashion’s most outspoken model: Tess Holliday

As Tess Holliday releases her new memoir, Anna Pointer meets fashion’s most outspoken model

IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE US plus-size model Tess Holliday shot to fame, she’s been told thousands of times that she’s ‘disgusting’, she’s eating herself to death, and even that her son would be born deformed. ‘Not a day goes by when I don’t get that kind of abuse,’ says Tess, 32. ‘It can be overwhelming and of course it gets me down. I’m only human.’

Trolling aside, you could almost say that mother-of-two Tess – who is a UK size 26 – has had the last laugh. After becoming the world’s first model over a size 20 to be signed to a major agency in 2015, she now boasts 1.5 million Instagram followers and has graced the cover of People magazine, while her refusal to bow to conventional fashion ideals has shaken up the entire industry. In fact, her #effyourbeautystandards campaign has been shared 2.5 million times on Insta, with a team of six now required to manage it. ‘#Eff changed my

life,’ she says. ‘It’s so important for me to speak up for marginalised people and those being bulldozed by hate.’

While Tess’s outspoken stance has won her many fans, others accuse her of promoting obesity and insist she cannot be ‘well’ at 20 stone – a claim she dismisses. ‘It’s 100% possible to be fat and healthy. Science backs that up. All those trolls said my baby would come out deformed, but Bowie was perfectly healthy.’ While such cruelty occasionally breaks her down, she says, ‘If I do cry, it’s mainly because I’m exhausted by people’s ignorance. I have to remind myself that people often don’t even mean it, they’re just seeking attention.’

Though asked ‘constantly’ about her diet, Tess says simply, ‘I don’t owe it to anyone to talk about or post what I eat. There’s no mandate for health and it’s nobody’s business what anyone does with their body.’ But after previously revealing that she works out with a trainer, she adds, ‘I love being active and moving my body. I challenge anyone to keep up with me on a regular day, where I do a 10-hour shoot in heels, then dash to the airport and fly home to take care of two kids.’

Home is LA, where Tess lives with husband Nick Holliday, 33, an Australian artist, one-year-old Bowie and her 11-year-old son Rylee, whose father she has no contact with. She and Nick first got together after he messaged her on Tumblr in 2012, telling her, ‘I love how you inspire other women.’ He provided the stability Tess needed, as her life until that point had been strewn with misery. Originally born in Mississippi as Ryann Hoven, she and brother Tad were continually moved around by their parents Doug and Beth – who eventually divorced. Then, when Tess was nine, her mother was paralysed after being shot in the head by a new boyfriend. ‘Watching my mom struggle as a 31-year-old bound to a wheelchair was the hardest thing I ever experienced,’ recalls Tess.

They moved into a trailer in the garden of her grandparents’ home, and Tess was so unhappy that she began comfort eating. Her weight ballooned and her classmates bullied her relentlessly. ‘One time, I duct-taped my stomach to fit into a dress because I thought having a belly was the worst thing. Having people tell you everything about you is wrong in those critical years really messes with you. It hurt my future relationships and I still find it hard to trust people.’

Before she cut him out of her life, even her father made cruel jibes. ‘I wanted to join the swim team but he told me I was too big. Being fat-shamed by my own dad had a major impact on me and I didn’t go near a pool or beach for 10 years. Now I’m always careful to encourage Rylee to do the things he wants to do.’

Thankfully, she has remained close to her mum, and says, ‘She did a far better job with us than she’ll ever realise. I wouldn’t be the kind of mother I am now if she hadn’t been so supportive.’

It was Beth who first encouraged Tess to move to LA and seek out a plus-size modelling career, aged 23. ‘The odds were stacked against me but, if nothing else, my childhood made me stronger and more stubborn. I’d learned never to take no for an answer.’ Her efforts paid off and, after securing a role on TV show Heavy, she began blogging under the pseudonym Tess Munster, and quickly started building a social media following and a succession of modelling contracts.

Her rise up the fashion chain has been captured in a brutally honest new memoir, The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl. It even describes a horrifying rape 10 years ago, which left her with three STIS. ‘I wanted to include it to remove the shame and show women rape is never their fault. This guy told me he’d either assault me or kill me, but at the time I didn’t view it as rape because I thought, “I let him do it.”’

She also speaks candidly about the strains of motherhood. ‘I’m lucky to be a mom, but it’s tough. Yes, we have a great family, but people only see a tiny bit of our life. And, oh my God, Nick and I fight constantly. Yesterday, he got so mad that we both ended up laughing. Sometimes he just needs five minutes and then he comes back and it’s over.’

Nick is, however, Tess’s greatest advocate. ‘My husband loves my body, especially when I’m walking around the house in a T-shirt and no bra, with my hair in a bun and no make-up.’ So when does Tess feel sexiest? ‘When I’m on a photo shoot, wearing a robe, in hair and make-up. It’s like having an alter ego and you can’t help but catch yourself in the mirror and feel beautiful.’

Although it’s taken her a long time to be comfortable with her size, she says, ‘I have a much healthier relationship with my body than I ever could have imagined. I’ve found that journey incredibly empowering.’ A self-proclaimed feminist – ‘It’s probably what I’m most passionate about’ – Tess is determined to keep campaigning for equality in fashion. ‘I’m still the only working model of my size, so I’d like to see more diversity,’ she says. ‘There are at least 10 prominent plus-size models now, but there’s still a long way to go.’

Unsurprisingly, one of her biggest ambitions is to land a Vogue cover. ‘I know it will happen,’ she says, with trademark determination. ‘I’d also like to do a lingerie line for women with big bellies. When I try on underwear, it always rolls underneath my stomach and I think there’s a market for plus-lingerie that genuinely fits.’

With her agency based in London, a move to Britain could be on the cards. ‘People in the UK get me more. Nick and I adore London and being able to walk around all that history. I also love the food, the pubs and hopping on a train and being in France in an hour. There’s something amazingly romantic about that.’

n ‘The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl’ is out 24 August (£12.99, Blink Publishing)

It’s so important for me to speak up for marginalised people and those being bulldozed by hate