Earlier this week, the Daily Mail ran a story where they claimed that Heidi Klum says she only eats 900 calories a day. The original article said she revealed this information in an Instagram story but I couldn’t see it on her profile. While she did take a picture of herself on a scale and put it on her stories after a follower asked her about her weight, the mention of “900 calories” seems to have been completely fabricated by the Daily Mail. (In other news, the sky is blue.) But a lot of other outlets ran with the story without verifying the details. So now Heidi is clapping back, saying that she would never encourage people to eat so little. Sofia Vergara and Terry Crews also came to her defense in a joint interview with Entertainment Tonight. Sofia says that Heidi eats Sofia’s sandwiches when they’re together on set of America’s Got Talent.
Heidi Klum’s “America’s Got Talent” co-stars are sticking up for the supermodel after false reports that she eats only 900 calories a day swirled online.
“That’s not true because you come into my dressing room and eat my stuff, [like] my sandwiches and stuff,” Sofía Vergara told her fellow judge during a joint “Entertainment Tonight” interview Wednesday.
The ABC show’s host, Terry Crews, then chimed in, “I believe [she eats Vergara’s food],” while Klum called the inaccurate claims “beyond bonkers.”
“I just hate when people lie like that because, especially, you know, there’s so many people out there that follow or read this, and they say, ‘Oh, she does this, so now I’m only gonna eat 900 calories,’” she continued.
The “Making the Cut” star, 50, decided to publicly deny the stories instead of staying silent because she wanted to make sure that her fans did not turn to a restrictive diet and put themselves in harm’s way.
“When it’s about other people’s health, I feel like I have to step in and say, ‘Wait a minute,’” she explained. “I don’t even care about me; I care about everyone who reads that and possibly gets way too thin. Because 900 calories, that’s, like, insane! I would be like a toothpick.”
When I first heard the story, I was pretty riled up about it because 900 calories isn’t even enough for a little kid, let alone an adult woman. I was relieved to see Heidi say that it wasn’t true. For the Daily Mail to toss off that number as if it’s a reasonable method for weight maintenance is dangerous and irresponsible. It then fell to Heidi to correct the lie, and I’m sure some of her followers are impressionable or prone to disordered behaviors. I know when my disordered eating was bad, I took celebrity “diet tips” seriously, sometimes with disastrous results. Heidi also said in an Instagram story about all of this that she has never had to count calories, which I don’t entirely buy. She was a Victoria’s Secret Angel and so many VS models have come forward with horror stories about being pressured into restrictive diets. I’d be surprised if she didn’t face the same pressure at various points in her modeling career but especially the VS days. I hope Heidi has found a way of eating that feels nourishing and balanced whether she tracks calories or not. (It isn’t healthy for me but I know it’s useful for many people.) And I’m sorry that the Daily Mail put words in her mouth.
Photos credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages, Olivier Sanchez / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram
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