Supermodel Gemma Ward – Then & Now
November 11, 2009 in Hot Models, Then and Now by Versus
At (huge) request, here’s a post on supermodel Gemma Ward’s weight gain & desire to quit modelling – The Daily Telegraph reports:
SUPERMODEL Gemma Ward (22), the butt of attacks on an international fashion website for gaining weight, has revealed through her agent that she has no plans to return to her glittering career.
A spokeswoman for modelling agency Viviens said Ward, who is based in New York, had no immediate plans to return to the industry.
“Gemma hasn’t committed to returning to modelling any time soon,” she said, adding that Ward had the agency’s full support.
This is not the first time Gemma faces the “weight gain!” headlines – after presenting a skinny figure for years, in 2007, Gemma appeared in a Chanel runway show wearing a bikini and revealing a non-skinny, slim and curvy figure (for a model) – here’s a skinny Gemma vs curvier Gemma:
At the beginning of 2009, Gemma’s weight was an issue again, since she was spotted in a bikini after gaining a visible amount of weight. At that time, sources were saying:
“GEMMA Ward, the strikingly thin model who once captivated the international fashion scene, has piled on weight as she continues to struggle with the loss of friend Heath Ledger” (who was rumored to be her lover)”
There’s even more after the jump!
Since her weight has been up (and down) more than one time, I am guessing that it is hard for her to maintain a low weight and that she is naturally curvier. She is really a unique beauty!
Here are more recent pictures of Gemma:
Let’s hear your thoughts now!
good for her, she probably made enough money as a model to put herself through school and have an awesome life as a normal person, she looks totally fine.
A couple of years back she was one of the highest paid models in the world. She made $3 million in ’06-’07. She could do a lot more than put herself through school! I think once you’ve made several million dollars, starving yourself to look pretty for the camera gets a bit dry.
totally agree with you. after all, those times when she was skinny was when she’s in her teens. she had grown older and maybe her metabolisme slowed down. she’s an adult now. this is prolly how her figure should really be. and truthfully, she’s not slim anymore. but not fat either. just big-boned and normal sized. she is tall. you can’t expect her to be a stick anymore. good for gemma. hope she’s doing well in her life as a normal person.
I ahve to disagree she is neither big boned, nor normal size. She is still thin. And that picture of her on the catwalk holding the purse, she looks amazingly fit!
I agree totally with your disagreement !
Yeah, I agree, but the modelling industry is so hard on that subject. I’m sorry for her and love her and miss her so much!
yeaa.. for this money I also can slim down a lot
poor girl.
she had probably a real hard time staying so thin, starving herself. now she eats, looks like a normal woman and everybody is picking on her.
i think she looks cute and good weight-wise.
she said she’s gained weight from the depression of heath ledger’s death, that is FAR from healthy.
thank you for listening to my request, versus
with a face like that, it doesnt matter how much she weighs, she will always look drop dead gorgeous to me (with the exception of the first picture where i think she looks like jack skellington).
i disagree that she probably had a hard time staying thin. i think she was most likely naturally skinny (she was like 16 when she first started) but undoubtedly ate healthily and worked out. her metabolism probably just slowed down as she got older, she didnt work out as much, and she didnt fight it.
Its so refreshing to see a model have the strength to leave the industry and just be happy and healthy. with her height, she can definitely afford the weight, she is still very pretty and i hope she doesnt get back to her old skinny self.
the only sad thing is, she prob was dropped from her agency when she refused to lose the weight. ah well, as has been said before, she certainly doesnt need the money!
She looks fine, and such a striking face. She’s only my age, but seems like she’s had a tough time
Her face looks so much better with the weight on it . . . She looked scary in that one runway bikini picture.
When you’re not one of those ‘naturally skinny’ models, you’ve got to work hard and eat so little (my cousin was a plus-sized model living in a manhattan studio with 3 other non-plus sized models . . . she said they rarely ate) and it’s got to take a tole.
She’s probaly just tired of being a model and has the good sense to not try to milk her body for longer than necessary. I still think she looks very good. She’s at a healthy looking weight. I wish her all the best in her future.
her body can be milked??
She looks great…She must of been literally starving herself to be that skinny! Much much better now.
Face-wise, she looks better at the heavier weight, but I like the slimmer body on her. And I want both hats, and the glasses, from the first two pictures. If only I could reach through the screen and steal them…
Why the fck people care that she’s gained weight is beyond me. If it’s what she wants to do than she can go ahead and do it. It’s like people think that you are out of control if you’re gaining weight… perhaps she wanted to? Perhaps she didn’t like being so painfully thin? Perhaps she is happier now than she was before?
Who knows
She looks fantastic with her current weight and she still has that distinct face that was what initially brought her attention. If worse came to worse and she really, really wanted to model once more, she could definitely do plus size. An before anybody thinks I am calling her plus size (when she is FAR from it), I am well aware of the stupid belief in most of the fashion industry that considers anything above a size 6 “plus size”!
After being way too tiny and depriving herself, she has probably gone to the other extreme. I bet in a couple years, once her body has had a chance to recover from the abuse and mentally she comes to terms with the pressure that she felt to be thin, she will even out and end up somewhere between her model weight and her current weight.
She looks great shes a tall girl, i bet if we saw her in reality she’d be slimmer than in pics. on a side note i know that there are naturally skinny models 5’10 110 but i feel they exist in a small percent like 15% which me think the majority have to exercise a lot and diet to keep their figures. i think gemma falls in that mode sorry for the rant but i think the fashion models are dieting and exercising like crazy to be thin
I think a lot of them don’t exercise at all actually. Karl Lagerfeld’s view that exercising only makes you hungry is probably prevalent. They probably don’t exert themselves much and are able to eat much less because of it. I’m sure some of them exercise, but the really skinny ones with no muscle tone? I highly doubt it. Coke and ciggies for them.
She’s so young to have quitted modelling!
Btw she looks like Sasha Pivaravova.
sasha pivovarova hit it big after Gemma’s prime … cashing in on those similarities i suppose. They are both beautiful !!!
She looked good at her skinny weight, and she looks good now. I think she would look her best somewhere in between, but that’s just me.
The thing that prompted me to respond to this post is to praise her for leaving the industry. She clearly is not naturally thin, and the weight difference between her “big” size and her “small” size is enough to make someone wonder how she did it…and yes I’m implying starvation or other unhealthy habits. I’m glad she said screw it, took her money, and left.
I am not supporting the thin trend in fashion, and I’m not opposing it. For now, that’s how it is, and I hope at least the people aspiring to be models will be those who are naturally thin and not women who will force themselves to be something they are not. Maybe in the future the trend will change to be more open and then she can return to modeling.
that’s exactly what i meant if its natural than great but if its not than dont force through unhealthy means
I agree with everyone here.
It must’ve been hell trying to stay that skinny. Good on her for getting real (and hopefully happy).
She is one of the most beautiful people on the outside, and the inside. To the person above who said things like “she had probably a real hard time staying so thin, starving herself. now she eats, looks like a normal woman and everybody is picking on her” and to those who assume “she musn’t have been naturally thin”. First of all, Gemma was a TEENAGER when she was in the peak of her modelling career. Most teenage girls are very slender- hell, i was 5″11 and weighed 54 kg and I all I did was eat! And secondly, I know Gemma. She is a very intelligent young woman, and never starved herself. She has always maintained a healthy diet and exercised daily. Then her good friend died, and her priorities changed. Leave the girl alone. She’s achieved more in her twenty two years than most people will do in their lifetime.
I’m one of the people who has said some of the things you mentioned in your post and I would like to explain myself.
I was basing my opinion simply in the photographs of her on this post, not on her entire career because I am not familiar with it. The pictures on this post span across 2 years, and at her already mature age, I don’t think the body changes that much in terms of development and ability to gain/lose weight.
That being said, she seems to have yoyo-d a lot with her weight in the past 2 years. Not only that, but the amount of weight that is gained/lost each time is a lot. I post a lot on this site, and if you have seen some of my other posts you would know that I am one of the people least likely to assume celebrities losing weight are starving themselves. But in her case, it really does make me wonder.
You said that she maintained a healthy diet and exercised daily, and that she stopped doing it because her priorities changed. If that is the case, then she stopped being healthy and taking care of herself and then her new “big” weight is a product of a different set of unhealthy habits, which is equally bad as her starving herself. I personally think that her “big” weight is her real weight and before, she was eating a restrictive diet as models who are not naturally thin typically do, and exercising a lot. To me, that doesn’t mean healthy because restrictive diets, as much as they try to be healthy, are restrictive, and there is a limit to how much exercise is healthy.
Also, not being naturally thin is not a bad thing. Being naturally thin comes with its own set of issues. I would know. I think she is a normal size with a normal metabolism and normal genetics. There is nothing wrong with that, so I don’t understand why your response implies that we were picking on her by saying she is not naturally thin. It was not meant to be an insult.
Also,
Her priorities changed in the sense that her good friend DIED. She is STILL in grief. Perhaps priorities wasn’t the best choice of word, but more that she is in a different place with her life and a healthy diet and exercise regime isn’t a big part of it. And like I said before, Gemma started modelling at 14. She was naturally slender then, the majority of teenage girls are. Even if now her body isn’t genetically designed to be that slender, what I’m trying to say that is during the peak of her career, she was still that naturally slender teenager. So even if you’re right that her weight now is what she naturally is (when she is an ADULT), it certainly doesn’t apply to when she was a big model and was still going through puberty.
And if the “she isn’t naturally thin” comments weren’t meant as an insult, the fact that all those comments are followed by “she looks happy now” is insulting. It’s assuming that to be thin=unhealthy, and to be a more normal size= happy. My own personal experiences with Gemma mean that I know this isn’t the case with her, not even close.
Are any of the pictures of her that are presented here during her teenage years? (I really don’t know, like I said, I’ve never followed her career). If not, I don’t see how it’s relevant that she was slender when she was a teenager because I think most of the people on this thread (including myself, like I said in my first post) are judging her simply on the photographs here, and not her career. If they were taken when she was a teenager well then she fooled me! But it’s still kind of irrelevant.
As for the naturally thin comments, I really think you are misinterpreting them. I am going to go on a limb here and say that’s not what the people meant…I don’t know if that’s true but I know it’s true for me at least. I think they meant that it is nice that she is not worrying about keeping her weight down and is getting out of the pressure and stress that being a model brings and is allowing herself to grieve. I think that is why people assume she must be happier now…because she doesn’t have the stress of “If I eat this cheesecake I might gain 5 pounds and what will newspapers say?” But then again, it’s all assumption. We don’t know her, it is just opinion and speculation based on limited facts that we have. (shrug)
Oh and I’d like to add just one thing. I FOR SURE didn’t mean “not naturally thin” as an insult. I have been naturally thin all my life and have always wished to be bigger. On a high fat high protein diet, I am the size of skinny-Gemma. I would rather be in-between Gemma or bigger Gemma. So there is no way for me to mean that as an insult.
You have no idea how Gemma eats and if she works out. None of us know.
“But then again, it’s all assumption. We don’t know her, it is just opinion and speculation based on limited facts that we have. (shrug)
” – From my second response.
I don’t think it’s a ridiculous, completely out-of-the-blue assumption to make the claims I am making. It is what happens frequently in the high fashion industry because of the pressure to be ultra thin (which not all models are naturally), which Gemma was a part of. I don’t claim to know her, or that what I am saying is 100% true, but it does make me wonder if she was starving herself considering the weight and time involved. I’ve never heard of medicines that altered that much weight except for those treating thyroid disorders. Stress and lifestyles changes affecting weight would most likely exert their influence on diet so diet is involved.
Just because you’ve never heard of those medicines doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Oh, well could you name a few? I’d love to know them for future reference.
depression medications can cause weight gain. medication for add or adhd can cause both weight loss or weight gain depending on the person.
“I find it bizarre how so many people have summed up her lifestyle based on looking a few photos of her.
It’s also rather creepy that people have looked that deeply into a picture.”
i agree. they are creepy.
I’m sure you would.
Let me Google that for you.
http://medical.slim-fast.com/pdfs/medications_that_cause_weight_gain.pdf
I thought antidepressants but I knew the majority of people on it don’t have an extreme weight change. However, I was not familiar with anticonvulsants or carbamazepine/gabapentin causing that much weight gain. Thanks for the link, I was actually not being sarcastic in my other post. I hoped the smiley face would have made it appear friendly and not as a come back to your come back..etc.
I will take this knowledge into consideration next time.
I am unsure how you could write a “comeback to my come back” considering I have not written a “comeback.”
However, if you think I am bouncing on every opportunity to compose “comebacks” for you, then perhaps you should read with a happier tone and less defensively. Or I suppose I could include more smileys, but the former would really be easier.
The only thing that I take personally on this site and get defensive about are personal insults directed towards me and calling non-fat people fat, or non-anorexic people anorexic, especially the latter.
I hope you will start to do that as well.
Except I have not done any of the above, so kindly refrain from passively aggressively insinuating I have, friend.
Well see you just did because there was nothing passive aggressive about my comment! Especially the aggressive component! I am also not insinuating, I am saying that you have and I hope you will not do so in the future.
I didn’t want to take it to a personal level because all I know about you is what you present on this site but it is very annoying how condescending you act towards people because of their differing opinions and it is you who is usually passive aggressive to others.
Of course, I also know this comment won’t do any good and will actually make things worse, so I would really, really prefer it if you just sort of skip over my posts if you see them anywhere because I think this website is a lot of fun, aside from having to deal with people like yourself. I will do the same for you if you’d like.
I also find you quite irritating, particularly your know-it-all condescending, over-opinionated fatuous, supercilious attitude and your refusal to admit or accept ignorance.
So I agree, let’s ignore each other. I will partake happily.
And you can finally quit pretending to be agreeable with me. I’d rather you have the courage to hold your true opinion instead of what I’ve come to accept as a two-faced nature, but courage is rare in all forms.
Enjoy your day.
I am always willing to accept when I’m wrong or ignorant. If you recall, I did it earlier on this post to something you pointed out.
I don’t know if you like seeing the worst in others but I also do not pretend to be agreeable. I TRY to be agreeable with everyone because I don’t like fighting. What you witnessed is patience, not a two-faced nature.
Good day to you too!
I agree with you, neutra. I am curious to know how so many people claim to know she’s starved herself or what her diet is like. Have these people followed her around daily? Are they watching her eat? Or are these baseless guesses?
Likewise, just because her weight has fluctuated doesn’t say much, if anything, about her body type or her diet. People’s weight can fluctuate from medications, from stress, — the list is kind of endless.
I find it bizarre how so many people have summed up her lifestyle based on looking a few photos of her.
It’s also rather creepy that people have looked that deeply into a picture.
I agree with this. Some of the comments about Gemma Ward wouldn’t be so bizarre if people, who do not have factual insight on Gemma’s situation, weren’t actually correcting other people who do have factual insight on Gemma’s situation.
It’s like the blind insisting that they can see better than the other blind.
I’m sorry, I left this out, I meant “if people, who do not have factual insight on Gemma’s situation, weren’t actually correcting other people who do NOT have factual insight on Gemma’s situation.”
You get my point though.
she looks awesome! if she works out a bit, she’ll look amazing at this weight. runway models are way too thin.
Wow, she really looks miserable now. She doesn’t look happy at all.
Its really too bad for her that she gave up her prospects of modeling. She apparently was pretty successful. She obviously gave up on them as she isn’t even fit looking anymore. She really just let herself go. Poor girl..
It is also difficult to judge if she is naturally thin as she could easily be suffering from an eating disorder now and over eating! I don’t think anyone on this forum can really judge that though..
This is so ridiculous. She is STILL “at a low weight” and she is STILL “skinny.” It’s appalling how fashion moves the goalposts so that anything that isn’t outright anorexic-looking is “curvy.” What nonsense. She is STILL below what the standard size of models used to be (6/8) in the years before “heroin chic,” and even that standard size was extremely thin.
Obviously she looks a thousand times better now than she did before, both face-wise and figure-wise. I bet she’d be even more beautiful if she were fuller still.
I don’t think she’s still at a low weight.
Size 6/8 is extremely thin?! What’s normal? 12-14? And overweight is 18+? Most people at a size 12 would be overweight unless they were taller! The fashion industry is ridiculous in moving the goal posts but what you said is equally ridiculous in the opposite way!
totally agreed. Still tall and very slim, especially in the first so called curvy pics that ’caused a furore’. it is insane!
and models are as a general rule very tall, C a. Are we all working on the same page? 6/8 british is not the same as 6/8 american. The equivalent size in the US would be 2/4.
I once went to a fashion show proper ( not down the local community hall type thing) and no matter how many protuding bones you see in pics I still was literally stunned by how thin they are.
Models are meant to represent an ideal. I don’t agree with all this stuff about ‘normal women’ on the catwalk as someone who is small and curvy I know how difficult it is to dress my shape and its stupid to think fashion designers are gonna hire people of my kind of shape, but anorexic should not be anyones ideal. and i would lay good money on the fact that most models would have BMI’s of between 15/16 which is classed as anorexic. No one saying they should be size 14 but 8/10, is slim enough when you are five foot nine.
Um Karsten…
maybe your in somesort of state of ignorance is bliss but reality check that picture IS NOT skinny and faaaaar from anorexic/heroin chic. on that same note she does not look healthy either. call it what you want curvy, overweight….but by no means “at a low weight” or “skinny”
oh fyi standard sizes (along with BMI & other health standards) have changed to fit today’s fat American society not that of the “heroin chic standards”.
In my opinion she DOES NOT look better now. & in fact (based on the picture..since idk her stats) would be OBESE if she were “fuller”
sorry this post is late but i just came across it
I think she looks good at this weight. I don’t think she looked horrible thinner, because I kind of like the “normal” model size (as long as there aren’t bones completely everywhere), but I think she looks good now. I just hope she’s happy.
the only thing that bothers me is that this is such a big deal. I mean, fine, personally I’d rather look like her skinny self then her present self. So what. This isn’t a reason to start a HUGE ATTACK on the girl.
Did she kill someone and get away with it or something? No? Then let her be whatever weight she choses to be. EVEN if you personally preffer the skinny look, it’s none of your business what other people do with their own bodies.
SHEESH internet harpies, I hope they get fat, that would be karma for harrrasing people.
for gods sake.. when is this going to stop? models are persons,not objects. they have a life, they have to eat. and if they gain some weight, the world stops turning?
I am a model, but not the 100lbs, 5ft11 type of model. people ask me to model because i am a normal healthy-looking girl. i don’t scare customers with me underweight-being. she’s so much better now, for her as a person, and as a model.
she is still really gorgeous. I don´t think she was healthy as a model
i feel really bad for this girl and all the crap she’s gotten lately from the press. she made it big at the age of 16, so she’s just growing up. i think she looks great. is she skinny anymore? no. is she a normal-sized adult? yes. good for her.
i think we may all forget she was dating heath ledger before he died. anyone who experienced the pain and sadness that she did when he passed away would defiantly in either their weight or someone other issue in their life. leave her alone.
For the first time i noticed how beautiful this girl is. She was gorgeous and a bit funny looking as a skinny model, but somehow now she has this aura about her that facinates me. She has a wacky sense of style tho
She doesn’t look too happy in the pics, but i think my basic face can look a bit sad for the outsiders, so i’m not gonna jump in to conclusions based on some candids. I hope she’s doing well, b/c even if she was starving herself to be thin, gaining (such an amount in a relatively short period) might also be a sign of sorrow, but idk. Wonder if she’ll stay in the spotlight, build a career as a celeb of another kind.. If not i actually feel a bit like i’m commenting an ordinary person 
Just ’cause she’s supposedly already stopped modelling.
glad to see a real girl !!
Yes, because your weight is what ultimately defines you as a female or not. I can’t believe that for all these years I thought it was the lack of a y chromosome that made me a woman! Oh how i was wrong!
LMAO! I guess all those men looking to become women should just gain weight.
good answer Blank
i feel awful for her that her weight is being speculated upon like this. when i gain or lose weight, i only have to deal with my own self criticism, i cant even imagine what its like having the world comparing your skinnier self to your current self. she is beautiful at both weights, i hope she’s happy.
never thought that i’ll be thinner than gemma:(
but, oh my God, she is still drop dead gorgeous! i’d kill for her face<3
She was freakishly thin before, looks like a normal 22 year old right now, good for her. But.. she was supposed to be the lover of Heath as well? I thought we already had Lindsey for that
Was she with Heath? Wow.
I do not think any high-paid super-model in the world would be happy gaining weight and losing her career…
Some people are trying to portray the image that she must have been miserable when she was super-thin..because she was starving herself…the thing is…people forget that food is not all that much of a big deal for other people as it might be for them…maybe she just did not care about food…like some people really don’t…
Maybe food was not a priority for her…but to assume that she is happier now…she does not look happy at all…she is still grieving…
Even when normal people gain weight,it is depressing for them…now imagining how unbelievably hard this can be for a super-model…
No one mentioned that in all the comments that I read…
honey; you cannot survive without food. That’s a fact. Not priority or whatever you are trying to say over there. Not having enough food will make you miserable. B/c your body need food. Simple as that.
I think I was the only one who stated she looks miserable now at her current weight. She really doesn’t look happy at all at her current weight. But I agree with you. Potentially losing a career is certainly not something to be happy at. She easily could have her own issues now which she is dealing with that she didn’t have before the weight gain. I feel sorry for the poor girl.
People on this site assume that anyone at a low weight must be having problems and be unhappy, when it is certainly most likely the other way around in her case. Being healthy, fit, and slim doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. However most people overlook the eating disorder epidemic of people over eating. This is far more of a problem than people dieing of anorexia. While certainly both are certainly issues, however over / unhealthy eating is a much more serious eating disorder by FAR. Probably at least 100 fold over anorexia. Every hospital has a cardiac ward, I haven’t seen any with an anorexia ward.
she was not eating healthy before obviously she had a problem. perhaps she recovered from an eating disorder which would be an explanation for her weight gain. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are just as wide spread as overeating. and the reason they don’t have anorexia/bulimia wards in hospitals is because hospitals don’t see it as a real disease (which is complete bs) so people who are really suffering and could possibly die at any time have to pay thousands upon thousands out of their own pocket to get help.
You are generalizing, and making wrong assumptions. I speak from experience since the same thing happened to me. I used to be extremely skinny because of a)small frame b)fast metabolism and managed to gain 30 kilos through compulsive overeating. I have problems walking and high cholesterol levels, I am now ill. I weren’t at 100 lbs.
(I’m not implying this is NECESSARILY Gemma’s case, just suggesting the obvious explanation is not always the right one.)
Over-eating is a more serious eating disorder than anorexia? Are you freaking serious? Tell that to a 60 lb anorexic. You can easily die from being 40 lbs underweight and restricting your food intake every day. You don’t die from being 40 lbs overweight and binging two times a week.
I think overeating to the extreme point of not just obesity but morbid obesity or even ‘super obesity’ is at least as serious. And I’m pretty sure there are a lot more people who are seriously, dangerously obese than there are at the same level of being dangerously underweight. The 40 pound example may be relevant to this particular case, but not your point as a whole.
Reminds me of Mischa B body type.
Unique beauty? She loks exactly like Dakota Fanning
So she is not so unique.
She is going thru reality………….
See. This just proves all of emaciated models are NOT naturally skinny. They are starving themselves, and when they stop, they’ll look like this. (healthy, normal)
More power to her.
she is still beautiful. I don’t think her face could ever NOT be beautiful.
It is like..people commenting here..saying she is happy after gaining so much weight ..it is like they ARE happy that she gained weight…it is giving some people a satisfaction of some sort…It is really hurtful.
Why would any one be happy that now they’ve gained so much weight just because she eats whatever now..this is not healthy..gaining so much in so little time..this is not healthy at all..
..she looks over-weight…
sigh…
As if food could ever make any one happy anyways
On the other hand,looking fit does make people happy…for Gemma,being a very successful super-model must have made her happy at one time I guess…
Besides,there are people here who have commented and said that they knew her personally and that she never had an ED..and that she never really starved herself…
She doesn’t look overweight, she looks to be in the healthy weight range. And gaining a lot of weight in a short amount of time can be VERY healthy for some people if they are very underweight. You know eating disorder treatment centers? Anorexics there gain 2 – 3 lbs a week most of the time. That’s 8 – 12 lbs a month. Do that for three or four months and they’ll probably come out looking like Gemma. Aka a healthy, not-underweight individual.
Also, you don’t have to starve yourself to have an eating disorder. Some people just count calories and restrict them mildly, like eating 1200 a day, every day. For someone with a fast metabolism, that could make them VERY underweight VERY quickly. I have a fast metabolism. And when I was anorexic, I ate 1000 calories a day. No one would have said that I starved myself. I ate. But because of my fast metabolism, I went from a BMI of 19.8 to 10.7 within a year.
No, it is not healthy to gain/lose weight in a short notice, you have to let your body adapt to the changes.
I was anorexic for six months and then I lost so much weight and became so hungry that I started binging and gained like 15 pounds in 1 month. It hurt, my stomach was bloated and my back hurt because of my growing stomach, I’m dizzy all the time and I had enormous cravings that made me guilty but I couldn’t stop. My blood pressure was 150/100, which is very high for my age & weight and I refuse to go to a hospital because I didn’t want my mom discovering I was having eating problems.
If I were Gemma, I’d be very, very upset. Lost career, all those nice clothes you can’t wear anymore, getting intimidated by what your peers might think of you and time wasted on trying to maintain that weight.
Once you get an eating disorder, you’re mind will never stop thinking about food and weight. Fuck the doctors and the meds, they don’t do nothing. After two years, I’m still fluctuating between periods of anorexia and over-eating and someday my body might just give up on me.
I’m thinking Gemma will have to resort to drugs and starvation to return to her old body and old high paying job.
How do you know she wants to continue modeling? Really what is with the internet harpies on here? There are more worthy professions than modeling. You cannot model all your life. The average model doesn’t get beyond 25 in the business. If you are smart you go to college and better yourself. If you are dumb you snort lines of dope in nightclub bathrooms and drink all your money away.
Ward doesn’t even look big to me. Then again I’m used to seeing truly obese people. Maybe you should get off her back.
And would you stop with the “…….” crap. It makes your posts impossible to read.
I think her face became more defined at the larger weight. I love her mouth, she has an adorable little permanent pout.
” Now she eats normally and looks healthy ”
really??? how do you know she eats normally now
Just like how do the people who said she starved herself then when she was thin..how do you know???
I do not believe she’s bigboned. I don’t think this weight fits her, but i like the more toned bodies. The weight just don’t her body justice, but thats just me.
On the other side, i like the fact that she’s dropped out and is probably planning a “normal” life for herself. Modelling isn’t forever, unless your name is Heidi Klum (don’t know why she still models). She’s probably happier now, since maintaining that unhealthy lifestyle as a model really take its tole. Not eating makes you unhappy.
Imo, she should get more toned, then she would look her best ever =)
I don’t know. She looks…big. Not fat, but big. Maybe it’s because of the outfits (especially the last one) or the fact that she is very tall.
I think the outfits she’s wearing at the bigger size are just INCREDIBLY unflattering. Especially that leopard number.
I think it was not fair posting this, considering the extremely personal reasons that stood behind her weight gain and the change of her lifestyle. She went through a very painful loss and she handled it how she could. People both calling her anorexic looking in her youth as well as overweight now are just happy they can be judgemental, no matter the circumstances. I know what this site is about and i know you can’t control what everyone says. And that is why i personally think you should have not posted this. I’ve seen the pictures before on some other site, and i got really angry on how people were picking her apart and calling her names, and saying she let herself go and so on. I don’t wish anyone went through such dramatic episodes, but maybe some deserve it, just to see how they would handle it and how skinny and perfect they would remain then.
If i must comment her figure, i would say she looks best somewhere in between. But that’s strictly how she looks. Right now, she should focus on how she feels and how she sees herself; and the media is a fing bi**h sometimes. They just can’t wait till someone dies and they make the best profit out of it. And they take is as far as they can, both related to what people they involve, as well as far in time.
Hi Uma,
I got many requests to post this – at first I didn’t want to, because I am not thrilled to report weight gain (because some comments may not be so… diplomatic).
But I thought that I could write an objective article (unlike what I’ve seen on other sites, where the articles had negative or slightly demeaning twists) and I tried just to enumerate the facts, which is why I included pics of this weight story’s stages.
I agree that people shouldn’t be judgmental, we can’t know what Gemma is going through.
That’s the point precisely. I know you cannot turn down the requests, and i know how eager people are to comment on such episodes as this one. I was not pointing fingers, i would just wish people would show some humanity, at least once in a while. Being alive is not only about being skinny or curvy or whatever the perfect body is. Sometimes, the body is just a carcass.
I think this is the natural evolution of a top model: you starve yourself for a few years while you’re young and able to get away with it, make enough money so you don’t have to worry about it anymore, then quit modelling and go back to your normal shape. There’s no need to stay that thin if she’s not planning on going back to the catwalks!
EXACTLY !!!!!!
She has the cash to buy a gazilllion burgers so why not!!
I agree completely.
but i don’t see any difference in the first left pic to the right, face-wise.
she used to have a small face and a little head and she still does.
in the last two picks gemma’s face looks like taylor momsen’s.
When I said she looked over-weight,I was actually taking her side against people who appeared to be so happy that she gained weight and were saying ” yeah yeah..she looks happy and healthy ” … it is like they are saying that so she won’t lose the weight and that she won’t look as hot as before ever…Modelling is a career…a passion for some…some people are portraying that if you are a thin model..even too thin..then you have to be such an ” evil ” person cause you make them feel like total fatties…
People who were saying she looked happy and healthy were not taking her side at all…
I hope she lose the weight and go back to an even better shape than before…and have her shining career back…after she gets through this…
All the luck in the world,Gemma!
Uma,your comment has been the nicest and the most decent…
*smiles*
Oh my god people just leave the poor girl alone!!! She looks like she’s a lot healthier and she doesn’t have the constant pressure of being extremely skinny anymore.
She is gorgeous at either weight! You can really see the beauty of her face with more weight, though.
Gemma’s absolutely stunning.
she’s from my hometown, perth (wetsren australia), i love her! whatever size she is! who friggin cares!
she’s from my hometown, perth (western australia), i love her! whatever size she is! who friggin cares!
oh my GOD
:o:o
so because she gained weight she’s healthier???
SEE. we are all in a thin body, let them show!!!
wow she looks so different!
her frame carries weight badly.
poor girl
looks fine to me! much healthier!
It was said by someone else that no one knows if she exercises or how she eats and that is completely true. I think its stupid how a lot of you sit here and assume she starved herself before because she was thinner. I agree a lot of models do but not all of them starve themselves. If she hasn’t openly admitted to doing that you shouldn’t assume she did. Some people are naturally thin and just because she is not as thin now doesn’t mean anything. Weight gain can be caused by sooo many factors, one of them also being she is older now and people tend to gain weight as they get older, or who knows why she gained it but I just don’t think people should say she starved herself if she might not have unless she has said that. I get that models are suppose to keep that skinny figure but there is also other ways to do that then starve and there is nothing wrong with eating healthy. Fat people can eat healthy too.
I think she looks amazing in the pictures with the cheetah print coat!!
I LOVE the glasses in the first ‘after’ shot. Anyone know who makes them?!
I fully support Gemma.
it must have been so stressful to stay skinny when you are naturally a curvier person.
and i also think it has to do with her metabolism as well. she is not a teenager anymore. it is harder to maintain weight as you get older.
and btw, she is not fat! she’s normal now.
In the first after pic she looks like Amanda Seyried from Jennifer’s body. She’s stilla a gorgeous girl, no matter what size.
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Im happy to see her looking so healthy. She looks beautiful like that.
Its RIDICULOUS people are saying she looks “Fat” she is still a small size! Just because she doesn’t have the body of a coat rack anymore, doesn’t mean she is fat!
Good for her! She looks just as beautiful as when she was super thin maybe even moresoe and I bet she’s MUCH more happy.
Being a model since I was 13 (closely 9 years) I would like to mention my thoughts about your “weight” references. I’ m 178 cm tall and 52 kg and I eat healthily (not only vegetables) every 3 hours. I, also, exercise myself 2 hours a day. That doesn’t mean other models and people do the same because of their possibly different metabolisms.
What is about Gemma, I believe that Heath Ledger’s loss/ death was a big change in her life. In my opinion she tried to see life through different eyes as she realised life is too short and strange to follow a strict diet for years, and have at the top of her mind her external appearance. So thumbs up if you are happier than before, little angel! This is what all people should do in order to enjoy themselves for as long they are willed to live .I don’t wanna say that we have to eat all day long but do not do any exaggerations. Finally, as my manager thinks :limits everywhere save you from total destruction
Really tall thin models just look better than other women, esp. in clothes. Just b/c some starve themselves to get thin, doesn’t mean they should change industry standards and start hiring size 6, size 8 models. They just don’t look as good in clothes as the thin ones do. Sorry, that’s just a fact. Instead of changing the size of the models, why don’t the stupid models that starve themselves get a nutritionist to put them on a sensible diet and exercise plan to lose the weight. You can lose PLENTY by eating sensibly and exercising. Bull crap.
I think I’m the only one who thinks she looks disgusting. She doesn’t look healthy at all…
The thing that annoys me is that she’s not even fat at all, instead before she was most likely so thin that is was unhealthy, people should stop critisizing her and other models for bieng healthy, that is what’s bad with modelling….
its a shame that modelling has become so extreme that the only people that can model are the ones that are verging on anorexia, or at least very underweight. Gemma is still beautiful and i hope she happier now that she doesn’t have that pressure on her before 
she is to fat for modelling career.
but she is never going to be ugly! her face is stunning
i feel really bad for gemma,she was dating heath and now hes gone shes clearly depressed,i think she works hard to be that skinny but i dont think she was anorexic,i think that shes comfort eating now hes gone and cant get herself out of her rut
i hope she can find happyness again
I don’t mean to be rude. The way she looks is her own business…BUT…as we all know, such changes to the body at this age (we rule out pregnancy) appear in 3 cases: overeating, medical (hormones), drugs to no drugs…And well, I know to some of you I will seem rude, but I like her better on the second picture from runway (when she’s not very skinny), otherwise I don’t like. And how exactly does leopard and pink match in this case??? – It looks trashy to me. I wouldn’t go out on the street like that. She should come out of her depression or whatever, not many of us have such opportunities in life and I’d use them. Sometimes u have to keep living. Sorry for my grammar, im Russian.
I don’t know if it’s me, but I think she looks ten times better in her curves! And it’s actually really inspiring for me because she is now my size. And somehow it helps me see that the size that I am can be really beautiful, and still look great in your fashion! It especially inspiring, because I was trying to be a model at one point, and kept being turned down due to my size, and back then I was a bit smaller than her! But she still looks great in clothing, and I would love to see more models her size. Maybe she and I can start our own clothing line and model everything in our sizes! LOL
who the cares? it’s her life don’t spend yours arguing about it. and don’t comment back “then why are you arguing, then why do you care, then why are you commenting” because i’m pretty sure we aren’t in third grade.
xx
[...] In 2007, Gemma appeared on the Chanel runway show in a bikini where spectators noticed significant weight gain. The then 20-year old was put under speculation and scrutiny. She has not worked since and [...]
If that’s fat, then I’m obese, LOl.
If that’s fat, then I’m obese, LOl.
whether her super-skinny-supermodel size or her slightly curvy current size she is without a doubt one of the most beautiful people ever. hands down.