Ashley Graham received so much support when she posted a picture of her pregnancy stretch marks in August — but uploading the nude shot wasn’t an easy decision for the model.
“I had just announced that I was pregnant and I thought then I was gonna feel good, and I didn’t,” the New Model author, 32, admitted during a Friday, November 15, Fearless segment with Taylor Hoit. “I just felt terrible. That morning actually, I really thought to myself, ‘Get it together, Ashley. There are other women out there who are going through the same thing as you. Why don’t you have a dialogue with them? This is a new body that I’m walking into. Why don’t I just put myself out there with this new body?’”
Although the Nebraska native felt “isolated” and “alone” in her insecurities, she now has “come into [a] whole new world of body confidence.”
After Graham shared the August social media upload, captioned, “Same same but a little different,” she was praised by friends and fans alike. “Beautiful then & beautiful now … beautiful later,” The Real’s Adrienne Bailon commented, while a follower added, “I’m such a wimp. I’m pregnant, hormonal, and going through so many body changes. This made me tear up. I really needed this today.”
The American Beauty Star host announced earlier that same month that she and her husband, Justin Ervin, have their first child on the way. “Nine years ago today, I married the love of my life,” she captioned her baby bump debut. “It has been the best journey with my favorite person in the world! Today, we are feeling so blessed, grateful and excited to celebrate with our GROWING FAMILY! Happy anniversary, @mrjustinervin. Life is about to get even better.”
The filmmaker, 31, who wed Graham in 2010, added with a post of his own: “These 9 years have played out like a lifetime. I guess it’s because my life really started once you came into it. Now that we’ve made a life together, let’s make a life together. I love you and I love us. All of us.”
