I love my curvy body

I never wanted to be a model and I still don't, really. Modelling is the most boring thing in the world! You just stand there wearing clothes. I'd prefer to use my brain - but I fell into modelling by accident. It was five years ago, I was 19 and I was sitting around on my chubby butt, figuring out what to do with my life when I was spotted by a talent scout for an advertising campaign.

In the end, I agreed to do it purely for the money. Then, at the shoot, the model Kate Dillon came up to me and said, "You gotta come to my agency." I was, like, no way. I live a block away from her agency, Wilhelmina. It took me two weeks just to walk in there. The minute I did, they handed me a contract.

I'm 5ft 7in tall, weigh 11st and am a size 16. I've never seen myself as the model type. As a kid I was always chubby. We're a family of big eaters, and if you look at my older sister, Liv, you'll see that she's not super-skinny either - she is totally happy that she has a womanly shape, which is very rare among movie stars. And although my dad [Aerosmith front man Steve Tyler] has a fast metabolism when he is touring and running around on stage, he has a pot belly, too, when he's not working.

My family never pressurised me to be skinny - we're very tolerant and supportive of each other. Whatever I wanted to be in life, they were there for me. And I grew up in the countryside in New Hampshire where nobody was super-skinny - all the girls I went to school with are now much bigger than me.

Before I became a model I never felt uncomfortable about my size because I didn't see myself as being all that big - I just think of all the other models as being extremely skinny. But the reality is that in the fashion industry, you just don't see girls like me. I still don't think you have to be a certain size to be happy, though - but I get letters all the time from girls who are uncomfortable about their bodies; they just want reassurance, and someone beautiful to look up to.

My agency never put pressure on me to lose weight, but then I think they see me as a one-off. I admit that I was a little shy at first about being a plus- size model, because it was like, "Do I want to be known as that famous fat girl?" But the way I look at it now is that I simply have a fuller figure. Like a huge percentage of women in the world, I'm not a size 10. And as far I'm concerned, that's okay. I find clothes that fit and I'm happy the way I am - but in the modelling world, I'm considered absolutely huge.

On a shoot, clothes aren't a problem - if they don't fit we just cut them open. And I also think that designers are starting to understand that not everybody is skinny. The jeans I'm wearing today are Dolce & Gabbana and they're a size 16, and I bought a pair of Versace jeans the other day that were a size 16. The designers make clothes in bigger sizes, but they just don't promote them. It's as if they have this arrogant attitude and don't want to be associated in any way with plump girls. You never see a plus-size girl in a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign or on the Versace catwalk.

I'd definitely get more work if I was skinny - last year, when I was going through some family problems, I lost 10lb and the work suddenly started rolling in. That's what this industry is like, and I hate it.

None of my friends are models and I try to detach myself from this world as much as I possibly can. I know for a fact that models throw up and starve themselves in order to stay in work, and that sucks. It's not their fault; they just have to stay that way to keep their jobs. I'm always being told that I have better skin and hair than most of the other models - surviving on cigarettes and mineral water doesn't do your looks any favours in the long run.

A girl had one glass of wine the other day and then passed out because she hadn't eaten all day. Even though there is always catering at fashion shoots, models aren't allowed to actually eat for fear of putting on a pound. The
photographers and hair and makeup artists get to eat all the food.

Sophie Dahl was one of the few real-sized models in the industry when I started out - she didn't look like a giraffe, and seeing her at a size 16 inspired me to give modelling a go; she actually made me think I might be beautiful.

She's a size eight now and I'm really disappointed. Even Eva Herzivoga, who wasn't even fat to begin with, looks as if she has suddenly lost lots of weight and is, in my opinion, far less attractive.

Clients hire me because they want a big girl. I don't think I could ever get down to a size eight even if I wanted to. I've got big bones. I do have to watch what I eat, though, just to stay this size. I avoid bread, which is hard, but I try to be healthy. I seem to know when my body needs veggies or when it needs steak. I'm not very good about exercise, though, because I find it boring. The only exercise I take right now is raising my fork to my mouth.

I felt confident when I walked down the catwalk in underwear last week during the shows in New York. But I wouldn't mind losing a stone, who wouldn't? But I love my body, especially my little belly. My boyfriend [Papa Roach drummer Dave Buckner] likes me just the way I am. He's the first guy I've dated who's made me feel comfortable with my weight - but then again, he weighs 20 stone. I used to go out with really skinny guys who resembled my dad and I'd feel really self- conscious because I'd have a spare tyre around my middle, and for years I had to suck in the flab so my boyfriends wouldn't see it. Now I sit there and let my boyfriend play with it. He thinks I'm incredibly sexy.

I'm going to carry on modelling while I try to get my music career off the ground. But after that I'll definitely give it up. With music I'll get a chance to be myself. With modelling, you can't do that. No one cares about who you are or your feelings - it's just about being part of an impossible fantasy.