Bachelorette Hannah Brown was called ‘chubby’ which led to ‘starving’ herself and anxiety

Hannah Brown opened up about her years of body-image issues in a video posted to her YouTube channel on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old former Bachelorette star admitted that she had struggled to appreciate her body going back to her childhood, when she would compare herself to models in Limited Too catalogs.

‘I had a really round face, like I still do now, and huge dimples,’ she admitted. ‘Everyone would always comment on my “little chubby face.”‘ Years later she ended up starving herself for beauty pageants which gave her anxiety.

Getting real: The Bachelorette’s Hannah Brown, 26, opened up about her years of body-image issues and disordered eating in a YouTube video posted Wednesday

Hannah was dressed casually in her video while wearing a pale pink crop top and a pair of gray-and-white patterned sweatpants as she sat on her bed.

The reality star admitted she had ‘always hated’ her legs, which she feared were too large.

She added that her mother had called them ‘logger legs,’ after her grandfather, who was a logger.

‘She said, “If we had strong legs, we could pick up trees.”‘

Hannah was also swept up with other young girls in her desire to have a thigh gap. 

Early start: The reality star admitted she had 'always hated' her legs, which she feared were too large after her mother called them 'logger legs'

Early start: The reality star admitted she had ‘always hated’ her legs, which she feared were too large after her mother called them ‘logger legs’

Unreal expectations: 'I don’t naturally have a thigh gap. I always hated my legs,' she admitted. 'I wanted to be perfect. I was always self-conscious that I wasn’t as thin as I wanted to be'

Unreal expectations: ‘I don’t naturally have a thigh gap. I always hated my legs,’ she admitted. ‘I wanted to be perfect. I was always self-conscious that I wasn’t as thin as I wanted to be’

‘I don’t naturally have a thigh gap. I always hated my legs,’ she admitted. ‘I wanted to be perfect. I was always self-conscious that I wasn’t as thin as I wanted to be.’

Although Hannah always ‘loved to eat,’ her entry into high school exacerbated her body-image issues.

She noted that her classmates told her she was ‘pretty,’ but that she ‘was a little curvy or thick.’

‘If they only knew how much that hurt me because I struggled with it so much,’ she shared.

She fell into patterns of disordered eating after beginning to compete in pageants.

Never good enough: Her classmates told her she was 'pretty,' but that she 'was a little curvy or thick.' She added: 'That hurt me because I struggled with it so much'

Never good enough: Her classmates told her she was ‘pretty,’ but that she ‘was a little curvy or thick.’ She added: ‘That hurt me because I struggled with it so much’

Hannah recounted going an on ‘extreme’ diet after a friend told her she could lose weight if she stuck to an exclusively liquid diet.

‘I remembered I was hungry. I was so, so hungry,’ she recalled. ‘As soon as I stopped [dieting], after the pageant, I was literally starving, all the weight came back on and more. That was really hard for me, so that started the constant yo-yo that I’ve had for so long.’

Her body issues were accompanied by other mental health problems.

‘I had a lot of anxiety. I had a lot of depression,’ she said. Those issues were exacerbated by a breakup, after which she lost a significant amount of weight ahead of competing for the Miss Alabama title.

‘The only thing I’ve done is got my heart broken,’ she said of her pre-pageant weight loss. ‘I would truly forget to eat. I was sad. I was not eating enough. I remember winning and there were so many emotions with that.’

Shrinking: Hannah went on extreme liquid diets while preparing for pageants, and she lost even more weight from depression after a big breakup; seen in 2019 in West Hollywood

Shrinking: Hannah went on extreme liquid diets while preparing for pageants, and she lost even more weight from depression after a big breakup; seen in 2019 in West Hollywood

Although Hannah finally had the thigh gap she’d desired after winning the pageant, she worried that she couldn’t keep up her tiny figure.

‘I was so small and had no energy that I couldn’t do the workouts I used to do,’ she explained. ‘I think I had trained myself to be full.’

During her stint on The Bachelor, Hannah said she ‘only ate candy,’ and by the time she led her own Bachelorette season she was gaining back weight.

Although she lost more weight following her breakup from Jed Wyatt, she still felt she wasn’t thin enough to compete with the ‘other beautiful professional women’ of Dancing With The Stars.

More recently, Hannah said she has been focused on knowing her own self-worth.

Yo-yoing: Hannah put on weight throughout The Bachelorette, then lost some after her breakup with Jed Wyatt; still from The Bachelorette

Yo-yoing: Hannah put on weight throughout The Bachelorette, then lost some after her breakup with Jed Wyatt; still from The Bachelorette

Always comparing herself to others: Still, she didn't think she was 'thin enough to compete with the 'other beautiful professional women' of Dancing With The Stars; still from DWTS in 2019

Always comparing herself to others: Still, she didn’t think she was ‘thin enough to compete with the ‘other beautiful professional women’ of Dancing With The Stars; still from DWTS in 2019

‘It’s always been this constant struggle of worthiness. When I think back on it all, I wasn’t any happier at any time,’ she said. ‘The whole issue with it all was I didn’t have any self-worth through all that.

‘I’ve definitely struggled with accepting the way my body is now,’ Hannah continued. ‘I’m like, ‘No, Hannah! Cut the crap and learn to have a healthy lifestyle and accept how your body is.’ 

She added that she ‘needed to dig deep emotionally in who I want to be.’

Progress: 'I've definitely struggled with accepting the way my body is now,' Hannah said. 'I'm like, 'No, Hannah! Cut the crap and learn to have a healthy lifestyle and accept how your body is'

Progress: ‘I’ve definitely struggled with accepting the way my body is now,’ Hannah said. ‘I’m like, ‘No, Hannah! Cut the crap and learn to have a healthy lifestyle and accept how your body is’

Hannah continued, saying that she’s working on her body-image issues on a day-to-day basis.

‘My better and better doesn’t always mean smaller and smaller,’ she said. ‘[Just] be a healthier version of Hannah. I just want to be able to move my body. I’ve put my body through so much stress that it shut down.’

She sounded optimistic about the path forward.

‘Mentally, I’m healing and I’m resting my body so I can slowly love on my body. There is not a world where I am not going to let myself enjoy life. I love sugar. I’m not doing to deprive myself.’

Going forward: 'Mentally, I’m healing and I’m resting my body so I can slowly love on my body. There is not a world where I am not going to let myself enjoy life,' she said; seen in 2019 in Inglewood

Going forward: ‘Mentally, I’m healing and I’m resting my body so I can slowly love on my body. There is not a world where I am not going to let myself enjoy life,’ she said; seen in 2019 in Inglewood

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