My first shoot was on a rooftop in swimsuits with two plus-size models who were curvy and voluptuous and beautiful, and they taught me so much about being beautiful in any shape or size.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It doesn't matter if you're small, big, or fit: if you go in front of the camera and deliver and say, 'Oh my God, I look amazing,' and just be sure about yourself, everything will be perfect.
I know I'm never going to be one of those size 2 actresses - that's just not me. But I do want to be the healthiest I can be, and a role model to women of all shapes and sizes.
I was told I was fat in the modeling world, and a director on a shoot told me I needed to lose weight. The J-Lo booty wasn't popular then, and I wanted to be the perfect Hollywood girl - tall, blonde and skinny. I couldn't do the 'tall' because I was 5'2, and I couldn't do the skinny, either.
I was naturally skinny and had braces, so I wasn't a cute model.
I've been all different shapes and sizes in my lifetime. I started wearing shapewear as a teenager after I did 'Australian Idol.' I had a little tummy, and I was always really quite conscious of that.
I was tall and skinny, and at 15, I was approached to model. I figured that models got to travel, and it became my ticket to travel so much so that if an agency could not fly me to another country, I would fly on my cost so that I could see that country and also make some money.
I really don't think I ever thought I could be a model. I was shorter than all of the models around and certainly rounder than anybody that I had ever seen in a magazine.
The first entry into modeling doesn't build your confidence. They pull out the tape measure and pick you apart. I'm a curvy woman, so I was definitely told I was 'too curvy.'
It took me six years to be comfortable modeling a swimsuit.
I was so beautiful when I was young. And I took so few photos because I felt so skinny and ugly. I wish I'd just taken a few more shots.