Love Island’s Cassidy McGill reveals her struggle with body image after being labelled ‘plus size’

‘I hated myself’: Love Island Australia’s Cassidy McGill reveals her incredible weight loss – as she shares her body image struggle after being labelled ‘plus size’ by trolls

Love Island Australia star Cassidy McGill has shared a candid and empowering Instagram post about her struggle with body image.

On Friday, the 25-year-old posted a photo of herself from the show in April 2018, and another taken six months later after she’d lost some weight.

She explained in the caption that she’d decided to lose a few kilos after being ‘body shamed’ by trolls who unfairly described her as ‘plus size’.

Comparison: On Friday, the 25-year-old posted a photo of herself from the show in April 2018, and another (above) taken six months later after she'd lost some weight

‘I hated myself’: Love Island Australia star Cassidy McGill has shared a candid and empowering Instagram post about her struggle with body image. Pictured left: on Love Island in April 2018, and right: six months later, in October 2018

Cassidy said her experience with trolls made her become excessive about diet and exercise, and as a result she dropped from a size 10 to a size six.

But despite drastically slimming down, she still found herself being body shamed online – and this taught her an ‘earth-shattering lesson’. 

‘On Love Island I was labelled the plus-size girl (by the public). I was a size 10… This rocked me to my core,’ Cassidy explained. 

‘This was the first moment in my life where I felt truly ashamed of my body and felt that unsettling feeling of constantly being self conscious. It was awful.’

Shedding the pounds: She explained that she'd decided to lose a few kilos after being 'body shamed' by trolls who described her as 'plus size'. But despite drastically slimming down, she still found herself being body shamed online - and this taught her an 'earth-shattering lesson'. Pictured in October 2018

Shedding the pounds: She explained that she’d decided to lose a few kilos after being ‘body shamed’ by trolls who described her as ‘plus size’. But despite drastically slimming down, she still found herself being body shamed online – and this taught her an ‘earth-shattering lesson’. Pictured in October 2018

Cassidy revealed that she would often receive cruel comments about her ‘thunder thighs’ so she ate clean and worked hard at the gym. 

‘I honestly hated the world and I hated myself,’ she added. ‘I was doing it for nothing other than to be skinny enough to feel beautiful to the public. F**K THAT NOISE.

‘But you want to know what the worst part is? Once photos started surfacing of me as a size six, ribs showing, and basically nothing left of my once athletic and wonderful body, I GOT BODY SHAMED AGAIN.’

Confident: Cassidy said these comments were a wake-up call because they made her realise she should be doing only what makes her happy. Pictured in September this year

Confident: Cassidy said these comments were a wake-up call because they made her realise she should be doing only what makes her happy. Pictured in September this year

She claimed she would receive comments saying ‘she looked better before’ and that she should get some ‘meat on her bones’.

Cassidy said these comments were a wake-up call because they made her realise she should be doing only what makes her happy.

‘I told myself, “I may as well do whatever the f**k I want, and whatever will make me happy. Because at the end of the day you will NEVER please everyone.”‘

Wake up call: Cassidy said that the comments were a wake up call, as she realised she should be doing what makes her happy. Pictured recently

Wake up call: Cassidy said that the comments were a wake up call, as she realised she should be doing what makes her happy. Pictured recently

Cassidy said she was now a ‘comfortable size 10’ and ‘proud of her body and grateful for health’.

She concluded the post by sharing a recent picture of herself smiling and showing off her figure in a white bra and knickers. 

‘If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that words can be so harmful,’ she wrote. 

‘You will never be able to control what others speak about you, but you certainly can control the way you speak about yourself. Remember that.’ 

A positive mindset: 'If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that words can be so harmful. You will never be able to control what others speak about you, but you certainly can control the way you speak about yourself. Remember that,' she finished

A positive mindset: ‘If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that words can be so harmful. You will never be able to control what others speak about you, but you certainly can control the way you speak about yourself. Remember that,’ she finished