Plus-Size Advocate Ashley Graham on Outshining Michelle Obama, Dieting & Her Underage Lingerie Modeling Days


This story is being featured as part of our “Yahoo Best of 2015” series. It was originally published on April 13, 2015.

Is model Ashley Graham more important than the First Lady? After all, she’s ranked above FLOTUS in a male-centric poll we found on the Internet. Graham, who currently stars in Lane Bryant’s #ImNoAngel campaign, also exclusively reveals to Yahoo Style she would happily work for Victoria’s Secret, despite her #ImNoAngel ad’s obvious dig at the brand. “Call me!!” she says.

In this episode of “I Yahoo’d Myself,” Nick Axelrod gets the scoop on Graham’s first underage modeling job—she was 14 and her mother had to sign a waiver that assured Lane Bryant would airbrush out her daughter’s nipples—and how she’s designing sexy lingerie for women of all shapes with her own brand, Addition Elle. As to whether she approves of the controversial term “plus size,” Graham shot back, “I like ‘curvaceous, sexy, gorgeous hunk o’ woman.’”

Graham also dishes on her atypical model diet (”Honey, do I look like I eat almonds and water?”), and her role models as a young girl. “I was told to look up to Marilyn Monroe. I was told to look up to Jay Leno…” Say WHAT? Watch the video above to find out what the heck she’s talking about.

Catch all the episodes of “I Yahoo’d Myself” here, including interviews with Eva Mendes, Kelly Osbourne, Gigi Hadid, and more.