Former Victoria’s Secret model Erin Heatherton has revealed pressure to lose weight caused her to ditch the high-profile runway contract.

Heatherton, who walked in the much-hyped VS runway show from 2008 to 2013, said in the latter years she struggled to reach the size expected of her, despite eating well and exercising twice a day.

“My last two Victoria’s Secret shows, I was told I had to lose weight,” she told Motto in a recent interview. “I look back like, ‘Really?’”

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“I was really depressed because I was working so hard and I felt like my body was resisting me.

Heatherton in 2013 – the year she says her body “resisted” dieting. Photo: Getty

“And I got to a point where one night I got home from a workout and I remember staring at my food and thinking maybe I should just not eat.”

Making 2013 her last show, Heatherton decided to leave the company to do some self exploration.

“I realised I couldn’t go out into the world—parading my body and myself in front of all these women who look up to me—and tell them that this is easy and simple and everyone can do this,” she told the website.

Also switching modelling agencies, Heatherton moved from Marilyn to IMG, and has since featured as a face of Impulse Fragrances in Australia.

In 2014, fellow VS model Adriana Lima shocked many by revealing just how difficult it is to attain the bodies we see on the runway.

Lima admitted to working out twice a day in the months leading up to the show, before embarking on a “no solids” diet for nine days before the show, drinking only protein shakes with egg powder.

Two days before the show, Lima said she abstained from drinking water to “dry out” and lose the final few kilos.

A stylist for the runway show compared the pre-show preparation to marathon training.

Heatherton posted a powerful message on her Instagram account ( below).