Carol Alt, Beverly Johnson Reveal Hazardous Methods Supermodels Used To Stay Thin

With their high cheekbones, lithe frames and stunning looks, supermodels continue to be a source of fascination for the public, but there is a price to beauty as several of the women featured in HBO’s “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now” explained to Access Hollywood.

“When you’re crazy and you’re young and you just starve,” Carol Alt told Access at the premiere of the HBO documentary on Tuesday night, referring to how she stayed thin during the height of her modeling days. “I had no rhyme or reason, I didn’t work with a doctor, which is crazy. So, you know, I always advocate health above everything else.”

It was the same routine for Beverly Johnson, the first black supermodel.

“You don’t eat. Really. Seriously. You starve,” Beverly said of staying slim during her time on the catwalk. “That was part of the occupational hazard of modeling and so it’s really sad to see, like, regular people doing the same thing to remain thin and particularly, the young girls.”

Nowadays, being super skinny isn’t just a modeling look, but, as Beverly suggested – a global obsession.

“The obsession with being thin is global, I think now,” she said. “Where before, [when] we were models, we were the only ones thin-thin. And no one wanted to emulate us. Now… everybody wants to be thin and so now, we really do have to be thin.”

Carol admitted during her heyday, she actually lost a job because she was a size 4.

“Now they’re a size 2. At size 4, Calvin cut me out of a commercial ‘cause he said I was too skinny,” Carol told Access. “They were looking for sporty types, so it was a little different when I started, absolutely.”

And shockingly, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover star Kate Upton was recently criticized by bloggers and in the media, with some even suggesting the curvy blonde was too curvy.

“Isn’t that terrible?” Beverly said. “But she’s having so much fun. She’s eating and I’m sure she is having a lot of fun.”

Now 51, Carol revealed aging actually helped her with nutrition — eating right not only her figure, but for anti-aging properties.

“It started getting to be a pressure at 34 and that’s why I [wrote] my book, ‘Easy, Sexy, Raw,’ because it became so much easier once I knew how to eat,” Carol said of her key to staying in stunning shape. “It also anti-ages you so that helps a lot in this business, too. Everyone wants to be young.”

“About Face: Supermodels Then and Now” premieres July 30 at 9 PM on HBO.

— Jolie Lash