Charli Howard on why her modelling agency dumped her for being too big: 'Salt was a no go'

Charli Howard caused a stir last autumn when she hit back at the agency who dropped her for being too big in an empowering viral “f**k you” letter. At 5ft 8 and weighing 7.5 stone, the UK Size 6 model was told her physique was “too curvaceous”. Since then, the model from Peckham, south east London, has continued to work hard to fight the damaging, unattainable beauty ideals of the fashion industry.

Howard has spoken out about what happened to her at length for the first time in a video for StyleLikeU's "What's Underneath Project". The body positivity project involves a series of docu-style videos which shine a light on the beauty and fashion industry's unattainable views of perfection and the need for self-acceptance.

In Howard's video, the 23-year-old strips down to her underwear as she speaks candidly about the body-shaming, dictatorial dieting and gruelling fashion shoots she endured to meet the fashion industry’s unjust beauty ideals.

Howard, who has modelled for the likes of Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmo, Vidal Sassoon and more, recalls an incident where she was told to lose an impossible amount of weight in Paris. “He just comes over to me and he was like, ‘Charlie you need to lose 2 inches in a week’ and I was like ‘how is that possible?’”

It was at this point in Paris which Howard says she began to starve herself. Subsisting on energy bars and hot drinks, she walked everywhere. “It was always like 'if you lose this weight, then we’ll send you to this person and send you to this person', but it never transpires”.

In the video, Howard also explains how salt was another problematic food. “Salt was a no go,” she recalls. “No salt at all. I was terrified to go out for a meal with someone. It ruined my relationship with my ex-boyfriend. We couldn’t ever do anything nice”. Howard also says she would measure her body upwards of five times a day. “If I wasn’t a 35 hip or below it would just be like the end of the world".

Going on to develop body dysmorphia for a period, she says she would be informed about how much weight she’d lost by friends. In the end, Howard was dumped by her agency on the phone. “'We’ve been told you’ve put on weight and you know we really appreciate how much you go to the gym but to be honest, it’s not going to work’,” she recalls of the situation.

But Howard says she is now happier than she has ever been and is keen not to discourage other models from embarking on a career. “I’m being myself for the first time in my adult and teenage life and I’m making up for lost time that I spent worrying about my looks,” she concludes.

Of course, this does not mean that the fashion industry itself is changing. “We’ve got all these young girls with eating disorders and body image problems and we don’t question that,” she says. “We keep doing the same thing over and over again. Beauty isn’t measured by a number”.

The Independent has approached the agency Howard was previously represented by for comment.