Indian model Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned Miss Universe in 2021 and made the whole country proud.
Harnaaz recently walked the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week and looked stunning. But, however, she was a target of some trolling.
Harnaaz was trolled and body-shamed for gaining weight. This is where Miss Universe opened up about her health condition.
As per reports, Harnaaz Sandhu is suffering from Celiac disease. She says, “I’m one of those individuals who was first bullied that ‘she’s too skinny’ and now they bully me saying ‘she’s fat’. Nobody knows about my Celiac disease. That I can’t eat wheat flour and many other things.”
Celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten. Further talking about the health condition, Sandhu said, “When you go to a village, you see changes in your body. And I went to New York for the very first time… It is a whole other world altogether.”
Harnaaz went on to say that she believes in body positivity. She said, “I’m someone who believes in body positivity and one of the Miss Universes for the very first time is going through that. On the platform of Miss Universe, we talk about women empowerment, womanhood, and body positivity. And if I am going through that… I know there are a lot of people who are trolling me and it’s okay because that’s their mindset, their stigmas, but there are a lot of other individuals who are trolled every day irrespective of their Miss Universe or not. I’m empowering them by making them feel that if I feel gorgeous, you are beautiful too.”
Further speaking about the perception of beauty pageants, Harnaaz said, “If you think that I’m the most beautiful girl that’s why I won Miss Universe, I’m sorry, you’re wrong. I might not be the most beautiful (girl) but I might be one of the courageous and confident girls who believes even if I’m fat, even if I’m thin, it’s my body, I love myself. I love the changes and you should appreciate it because not everyone can go through the changes. So be happy if you’re going through changes. If you are facing challenges in life, you should be thankful because that means something good is going to happen.”