Supermodel Gigi Hadid has opened up for the first time about a silent thyroid condition she’s secretly struggled with for years.
Speaking alongside Ruby Rose, Aly Raisman, Zoe Kravitz, and Lena Dunham, at a Reebok’s Perfect Never campaign launch, the 21-year-old says she’s had Hashimoto’s disease for the last two years.
“It’s a thyroid disease, and it’s now been two years since taking the medication for it, so for the [Victoria’s Secret] show I didn’t want to lose any more weight, I just want to have muscles in the right place, and if my butt can get a little perkier, then that’s good,” Gigi admits.
Gigi’s younger sister, Bella Hadid, who also walked the VS Fashion Show this year, is dealing with her own health problems.
The 19-year-old, along with mum Yolanda Hadid and brother Anwar, has chronic Lyme Disease, a tick-borne illness.
Hashimoto’s, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, occurs when “someone’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland”.
In Hollywood, actresses Zoe Saldana, Victoria Justice, Gina Rodriguez and Nia Vardalos also battle with the same autoimmune disease.
Criticised earlier on for being too curvy for the modelling world, Gigi was called out by fans for being too thin on the VS runway.
She’s now taking a break from social media to focus on herself and her career around the holiday season.
“It’s not only for people in the spotlight, it’s for everyone,” she says.
“At the end of the day, I’m choosing what I’m showing you. A lot of the world feels so much entitlement in other people’s lives, which is so crazy and so new for human beings. We never had that.”
Gigi says that she wants to take a “month” off from being on social media, which she also urges her fans to do as well.
She believes that doing a regular cleanse from the social networking apps will also help her get over the constant negativity and hate that abounds.
“I’m going to take a break when I feel like it and when I come back and share it with you if you want to be supportive and still follow me I’m so grateful for that,” she adds.
“But if you’re going to be negative or be upset that I had to be a human for a month then maybe I don’t want to follow you anyway.”
