Ireland Baldwin regrets getting into the modeling industry

As the daughter of actors Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, Ireland Baldwin has lived most of her life in the public eye, so she's no stranger to criticism. But the 26-year-old says it was when she started working in the modeling industry that the attacks on her looks went from occasional to nonstop.

Ireland's first introduction to the scathing remarks of online commenters came on a photoshoot she was "pressured into" as a teenager. It was then she first witnessed people ravaging her every move.

"I regret getting into the modeling industry at all, honestly. I already struggled with extreme body dysmorphia and eating disorders and all kinds of issues prior to modeling. That was something I was introduced to very young," says Ireland. "I was 16 and I should have been in school and with my friends and not worried about how I looked in a bikini."

Basinger, who also started her career modeling, attempted to deter her daughter from pursuing modeling full-time. But Ireland, who had worked jobs starting at 13 in the retail and foodservice industries, didn't listen and pursued jobs when she recognized the allure of earning her own money in a high-paying industry.

"My mom was honest with me. She said this is really tough and I don't think you should leave school," Ireland recalls. "If anything, she didn't want me to do it."

But Ireland Baldwin now says that as a minor, she "didn't know what I was getting myself into." As a result, her obsession with her body was exacerbated.

"It spiraled when I began modeling. It was so normal to have such an unhealthy view of yourself," Ireland reflects. "This was my job— to be told that I was fat. It was a job at that point."

However, her time in the modeling industry wasn't the beginning of Ireland's issues with eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Instead, that was sparked during her parents' divorce.

"I had extreme eating issues when my parents were getting divorced when I was really young. It really is true, all eating disorders are about having a sense of control when everything around you feels out of control. My pain, my guilt, harbors itself in my stomach. A lot of what I was going through when I was younger — it made sense for me to control what I was eating and how I was eating it and when," says Ireland. "That developed really young, now that I look back."

But when confronted by online commenters on social media platforms like Instagram, Ireland would be emotionally destroyed.

Link to story: https://bikininewsdaily.com/bnd/IrelandBaldwinregretsget-2976