Models Direct weren’t particularly surprised to hear Kylie Bisutti’s recent comment that she “felt like a piece of meat” while working as a Victoria’s Secret model. The 23-year-old – formerly called Kylie Ludlow – quit at the height of her career to become a better christian and now says that she has never been so content.

Kylie has her first topless shot aged 16 and not long after won a Victoria’s Secret Angel Search competition. But modelling wasn’t everything that she had hoped it would be:

“One of my [model] room mates was so bulimic, she would involuntarily throw up when she ate,” she said. “She would go to sleep crying every night and just look at herself in the mirror thinking that she was so fat. And she was so thin.”

But it wasn’t long before she was risking her own health in order to slim down in the name of fashion: “I pretty much restricted my diet to oatmeal, fruits and vegetables to meet runway expectations.

“I’m five-foot-10, and I got down to 115 pounds with measurements of 34-24-34. In February 2007, New York Fashion Week was approaching, and while everyone I knew was being sent out to auditions, I wasn’t.

“[My agent said], ‘It’s because you look like a fat cow right now, Kylie. You need to lose two inches off of your hips.

Kylie left modelling behind shortly after being told to play down her relationship with her husband Mike and has now written a book I’m No Angel: From Victoria’s Secret Model to Role Model about her experiences as a model.

“I no longer restrict what I eat. I want young girls to see me at a healthy size,” She said.

The former model is launching a clothing line next month aimed at women of all shapes and sizes: “Beauty isn’t about what you look like,” she said. “It’s about what’s in your heart. That’s the most important thing.”