Blogger Joanne Larby has shared an emotional statement, admitting she has been editing her photos on Instagram to help her self-confidence.
Joanne had come under fire for use of editing app Face Tune, with people online sharing side by side photos and “calling her out” on it.
However in a very honest statement, Joanne said she did this because she felt pressure to lose weight, and revealed she was in an “emotionally abusive relationship.”
She later took down the post, which also had two photos side beside, one showing her larger figure before and photos she has posted in the last year.
“I’ve spent the past two days bawling my eyes out over what’s going on online over the past few days. I’m NOT talking about fake accounts containing unflattering pictures or even ones stretched to make me look bigger than I am.
“I’m talking about daily abuse and harassment on forums discussing my private life, family, and break up, people following every single thing I say and do and picking it apart. Enough is enough. Whatever excuse you have for doing it know that it’s not acceptable and if I was a younger version of myself this would push me over the edge.
“I’m just a girl who has a slightly abnormal job in the public eye who works harder than my Instagram feed may show. I run a business. I have felt like the fat girl, hell I was a size 14-16 above (and there’s NOTHING wrong with that size), I’ve battled with so many insecurities over the years and still do. In an age where everything is online, even when you expose some real hurts like experiencing hairloss it’s still not enough.
“I have binged because I was depressed, I’ve starved myself to look smaller, I’ve become insecure as a result of emotional abuse in a relationship, and I’ve felt a pressure to edit my pictures over the years when I wasn’t losing weight fast enough. I’m just a normal woman like YOU! Please don’t ever look at my images and think I’m perfect. I spent two years learning to love working out in a bid to transform my mind and body and now at a really healthy size 10 it’s still not enough. And so
“I want to use my voice this year to make even a tiny change and stand up to online bullying.
“No matter what you do for a living this should not be part and parcel of the job, not to this extent. This is not the price of ‘fame’, this is happening people all over the world to varying degrees.
“You do not have to suffer alone. Know that I am FLAWED, that I have had a journey, and that I’m still on one #stoptheshame”
Joanne also said she had been in an emotionally abusive relationship, although she did not mention which past relationship she was referring to.
This comes after many questioned why she left ex-boyfriend Paul Standell.
The pair had moved in together in London and shared their romance very publicly online, before Joanne abruptly moved home with no explanation.
