I was thrilled to learn this week that supermodel Heidi Klum is now openly embracing what she describes as her fuller, rounder and, most likely, healthier figure. After decades of being told by the fashion industry that she was 'too fat,' Klum is now conceding what so many celebs of her age know but refuse to admit.

'I'm no longer a size 24 jean,' she revealed in a new interview with US Weekly. 'But I think with age, we look better when we're not as skinny.'

Not only was I pleased to hear Klum speak such words, I felt downright exonerated.

It was 1999. I'd just commissioned a cover with Klum for Marie Claire magazine in the United Kingdom, where I was then editor-in-chief.

Klum was in her mid-twenties at that time, thin and very beautiful. But then the contact sheet of our cover photos came back and, oh dear. 

Klum's eyes, under the relentless glare of the camera in close-up, were surrounded by crow's feet. Rather than looking glum like so many models of that era, when grunge and heroin-chic were all the rage, Klum had dared to laugh in most of the pics. Hence the lines around her eyes.

I assumed Klum wouldn't be happy and so, fairly new to the job and not yet fearless, I contacted Klum's 'people', offering to air brush Klum's eyes to perfection.

To my surprise, Klum's response, even during her sexy Victoria's Secret stardom, was to leave her face as nature intended. No model or Hollywood star had ever said such a thing to me.

Sadly, I was over-ruled and forced to print the single pose where Klum looked moody, with the wrinkles around her eye sockets ironed out. She was understandably and commendably dismayed.

Today, this brave early champion of body positivity credits her husband, Tokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz, 36, whom she married in 2019, for encouraging her brazen  confidence. 'He said, "You should eat more. You would look better if you had more meat on your bones." He's right! Proportion-wise, I look better bigger,' the now 53-year-old Klum explained. (Agreed: 'lollipop lady' is never a good look.)

Despite Kaulitz's clearly loving intent, the recovering anorexic in me cringes each time I hear about a woman changing her appearance and eating habits because a man tells her to. Anyone with an eating disorder knows that being chided to 'just try a little' harder can have the opposite effect on our appetite.

I grew up with parents, teachers, health workers and later a husband imploring an always slim me to eat three meals a day and snacks in between; yeah, like that's ever going to happen! 

As Bridget Jones would say, 'Bugger off!'

Looking at photos of Klum's husband, who is handsome but could use a spa day, makes me want to tell him to please get a haircut and a shave!

Women, of course, should have complete autonomy over their bodies, eating only for their own happiness and health. And Klum has plenty to be happy about, including four children (three with her ex-husband, the pop star Seal) and a still booming career as a model and television host.

In an industry where sacrifice (body, mind, soul) so often trumps satisfaction, Klum's contentment is very welcome news. Especially when fat jabs now make it so easy to be thin and quiet the food 'noise'.

A perverse side effect of these new drugs is that to be deliciously Klum-curvy is to rebel against the thin-is-in trend. By showing that she won't be swayed, won't succumb to the pressure for the easy way out, Klum is helping every woman to love herself and her flaws – and hopefully form an anti-fat jab resistance in the process.

I've interviewed hundreds of female film stars and models over the years and, understandably, given it's their job to look beautiful, they are almost always wracked with insecurities, which of course makes them entirely unsuitable to be role models.

One famous actress lied about her age and puffed up to the size of a balloon when I arrived to interview her years ago. Considering that I'd first met her when she was still a schoolgirl, she was terrified by the fact I knew her true vintage.

Another huge (tiny) star, who had been married to the world's No.1 box-office draw, was so worryingly slim that she had to sneak chicken fillets down her bra while dressing for a cover shoot to give herself a bit of cleavage. And on and on.

No woman is perfect, and I applaud Klum for having the balls to say so. As a US size 4 in my sixties, I agree that older women do not look great with scant flesh on their bones.

I could post an excoriating selfie of my own modest physique, but instead will direct you towards Demi Moore on her most recent red-carpet outings. While she has never admitted to using fat-shots, Moore is so cadaverous, she barely casts a shadow.

With Klum-styled self-love still such an outlier in Hollywood, actresses and models should be the last women we look to for guidance on our own bodies and mental wellbeing.

Instead, I would encourage young women to turn their gaze towards sports stars: it's not the prettiest woman who won the Wimbledon Grand Slam this weekend. 

It was the strongest, the woman brimming with self-belief, devoid of make-up, sweating profusely and swearing.

We should be looking toward women who are making noise and taking up space; bravo to Klum for taking up all the space she's worked so hard and so long to secure.