Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Model and author, Sophie Dahl has revealed that there’s been a backlash against her since she’s lost weight, dropping from a size 16 to a size 10.
According to news reports:
Sophie Dahl thinks her weight loss left people feeling “betrayed”.The former supermodel – who is married to singer Jamie Cullum – was famously one of the few fuller-figured faces on the catwalk but in recent years has shed the pounds, going from a size 16 to a 10, and admits she was unprepared for people’s reactions.
She said: “People definitely said I had betrayed them. Strangers felt very open to comment about it. When one is a projection of a collective thought, it’s very odd.”
Despite her change in size and the scrutiny her appearance has received, Sophie insists she has never dieted extremely or had an unhealthy relationship with food.
- Sophie & husband Jamie Cullum
This is lucky because Sophie is about to launch a cooking show. It’s not the first time I’ve heard a celebrity say this. There seems to be a general consensus that anyone who is famous and then loses weight, is somehow copping out or selling out. But does anyone really have the responsibility to stay a certain size in order to be a role model?
Does anyone even choose to be a role model or does it just happen automatically by virtue of being famous? There are many reasons people gain and lose weight, not all of them tied to self-esteem or unhealthy means.
And while I always relish the appearance of anyone larger than a size 8 onto Planet Celebrity just for the visual diversity of it, I don’t believe Sophie or anybody else has a responsibility to anyone but themselves to be the weight that makes them most happy and feels most healthy.
Do you?
Having said that (splinter alert!), I honestly CAN understand the feeling of betrayal. Not with Sophie herself (not from me anyway) just with the sense that everyone famous has to be the same size.
It’s so rare to find someone in the fashion world who doesn’t conform to the standard package and when they (for whatever reason) decide to swim with the tide instead of against it, one can be forgiven for feeling a bit…bummed.
Thoughts? Experiences? Splinters?
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Top Comments
MEH. Same old discussion/argument.
You know what I find the most interesting/weirdest/strangest thing about Sophie D is?
Her tiny husband!
Doesn't anyone else think it just looks sooo WIERD?? Google him 'Jamie Cullum' and look for a photo of them together.
I would agree that no-one has the responsibility to stay a certain size in order to be a role model, but once you are one it is not surprising that those people would be disappointed if you did something that dropped you from the running, so to speak — something that took you out of the category where you were their role model. I admit I was really disappointed when Beyonce lost weight — but as long as she lost weight for the right reasons (i.e. she felt better that way and not because of pressure), then power to her. It's always a shame when someone seems to succumb to the power of fame and another diverse look is lost, but it's not their individual responsibility to wave the flag for the group in which they happen to belong.