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23rd March 2023
06:36am GMT
A plus-sized model says strangers tell her she will “crush” her slim husband’s legs when she sits on his lap.
Alex Aspasia, 28, is a confident 6ft and proud to be 21st 2lbs and a size UK 20.
But she hasn't always been confident in her body - after being called a “beach whale” by a stranger in a bar and kept secret by men she used to date.
She was also left feeling "unworthy" when an ex wouldn’t hold her hand in public.
But after hitting a low she discovered her “worth” and vowed to never let anyone let her “feel that way again”.
Alex met her now husband, Matthew, 33, a digital marketer, in Summer 2019 and the pair hit it off and tied the know in April 2022.
Despite getting comments online saying Alex will “crush his legs” and that he is “desperate” the couple are "smitten".
And she wants others to know they are “worthy of love” - regardless of their size or weight.
Alex, a plus-sized model, from Miami, Florida, said: “People say I am going to crush his legs.
“They say they hope the furniture is durable or that he’s desperate.
“It’s horrible.
“But we are 100 per cent smitten with each other.
“I know my worth now.
“Just because you are overweight or plus-sized it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve love.
“I want people to know you are worthy.”
In the past Alex has struggled with comments about her weight and although she’s still trolled, she now she has the confidence to ignore them.
She said: “As I matured as a women I embraced my size.
“I was called fat and felt a pressure to lose weight from my family.
“Even in my 20s I was at a bar and some guys randomly called me a beach whale.”
Alex had grown up not knowing many other women her size but realised she wasn’t alone after watching model Tyra Banks’ TV show - The Tyra Banks show - in which they searched for plus-sized models.
It inspired Alex to go into modelling herself.
She said: “I knew then that was something I wanted to do.
“I set up a YouTube channel about being tall and big.
“I was trying to find the other women who could relate.”
Alex started modelling in August 2019 shortly after meeting husband Matthew on a dating app in early summer of the same year.
She said: “He was friendly and open.
“He asked me to meet his mum after the first week of dating.
“He held my hand in public.
“It meant a lot to me.”
Matthew proposed on a rooftop on New Year’s Eve 2021 and the pair got married in August of the following year.
She has put her bad dating experiences in the past.
She said: “I used to see people who wanted to keep me a secret.
“Another refused to hold my hand in public because I was plus-sized.
“It made me feel unworthy. Not good enough. Not beautiful.
“I hit that low and I remember thinking – ‘I’ll never let anyone let me fell that way again.’”
The mismatched couple get a lot of comments due to Alex’s size but the model says the “good out ways the bad”.
Alex said: “I give plus-sized women the confidence to feel beautiful.
“You can live your best life today.
“I want to continue to work with women and continue representing for tall, plus-sized and bi-racial people.
“And letting people know you’re worthy.”
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