Fresh off the runway from the 2016 Victoria’s Secret fashion show, 21-year-old model Gigi Hadid has revealed her two-year-long struggle with a thyroid disorder, Hashimoto’s disease, to an exclusive panel and onlookers for Reebok.com.
Speaking candidly about the disorder, which slows down the metabolism and may lead to heart disease and depression, a fresh-faced Hadid revealed her “metabolism actually changed like crazy this year.”
The Victoria’s Secret model claimed that she had difficulty maintaining her weight in the lead up to lingerie giant’s catwalk event, saying, “for the [Victoria’s Secret] show I didn’t want to lose any more weight and I needed muscles in the right places.”
Her celebrity peers, including Zoe Saldana, have revealed they too suffer from the thyroid disorder.
Hadid is no stranger to body shaming comments, telling elle.com that critics have reported on her changing weight for a year. Hadid attributes her new medication to her slimmed down look and claims boyfriend, former One Direction star Zayn Malik, has been “incredibly supportive.
Her revelation comes on the back of model sister Bella Hadid’s admission that she suffers from Lyme disease, an enigmatic disorder that also affects her reality tv-star mother, Yolanda Hadid and younger brother Anwar Hadid.
Hadid’s celebrity friends, including Kendall Jenner and Taylor Swift, have rallied around the catwalk star. Yesterday, Hadid posted a heartfelt tribute to Swift for her birthday, telling the pop music star, “I’m so inspired by you.”