Sophie, now 28, opens up about the misery of her modelling years in the February issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
“Driven by a message that I wasn’t quite good enough as I was, I pushed my body to limits I now regret,” Sophie says. “I survived on vegetables, oats, lean protein, some fruit and caffeine. My periods stopped and I lost hair in the shower.
“I took sleeping pills to help myself drift off at night, my stomach wrought with hunger. I drank litres of water to fend off that empty feeling. My BMI dropped to 16.3.
“Forcing my brain to equate hunger with success, I believed that if I just woke up thinner, I would win this war with my body.
“Behind closed doors, we hardly ate. In public, we were smiling, amenable waifs. For years, I maintained the illusion that everything was as it seemed, until I couldn’t keep it up any longer. “
Sophie with her sister Gemma Ward, also a top model who has now quit the industry.
Sophie was just 19 when she decided she had had enough.
“Ninety per cent of my thoughts were about what I had eaten, what I would eat next, how much exercise I was getting and how I could restrict myself more,” she says.
“I was on prestigious catwalks, in ever more expensive shoes and better make-up. I was making money, flying around the world and enjoying an active social life. My life looked great: I was a high-flying model, admired and accomplished.
“Inside, I was exhausted. I felt that losing weight would increase my value in society. Knowing I had power over my own life, I decided to quit modelling.
“Not only was I sick of eating salad, I was tired of believing that I could be better than I already was. I knew it wasn’t true, so I unplugged myself from the system and watched my life flourish. I started to love myself for who I am.”
Sophie is now happy, healthy and six months pregnant with her first child. She has never regretted quitting modelling and is now a passionate spokesperson for the dangers of eating disorders in girls and young women.
“We must ask ourselves, what kind of young women are we raising? I believe every young woman has the capacity to invent her life,” she says. “We must give her the proper tools with which to create it.”
