Gigi Hadid reveals she struggles NOT to lose weight due to medication she takes for thyroid disease

She has the figure of most women’s dreams, but model Gigi Hadid has revealed she’s suffering Hashimoto’s disease.

The illness – which often leads to hypothyroidism – can cause weight gain and depression, and has meant Gigi has had to take medication which affect the metabolism.

The 21-year-old told Elle: “My metabolism actually changed like crazy this year. I have Hashimoto’s disease. It’s a thyroid disease”.

While the autoimmune disease is more prevalent in middle-aged women, it can strike at any age, and affects several other high profile women including Zoe Saldana, Victoria Justice, Gina Rodriguez and Nia Vardalos.

According to the American Thyroid Association website: “Since hypothyroidism usually develops over a long period of time, it is fairly common to find that there is no significant weight loss after successful treatment of hypothyroidism”.

After fans noticed her super-lean look on the Victoria’s Secret show in Paris, she was keen to quell rumours she purposely lost weight for the show.

“It’s now been two years since taking the medication for it, so for the [VS] show I didn’t want to lose any more weight.

“I just want to have muscles in the right place, and if my butt can get a little perkier, then that’s good.”

“I put a sticky note in my kitchen that just said ‘squats’ and every time I walked passed the squat sticky note I had to do 15 squats,” she also told the magazine.

“It’s a good trick because you have to have integrity with yourself. No one else is watching but you’re like, ‘Okay, I have to do this for myself,’ which is important.”

Last year fans jumped to Gigi’s defence after she took to the catwalk for Tommy Hilfiger’s Autumn 2015 campaign wearing an oversized poncho, after the casting director commented she was “not quite as thin” as the other runway models.

Gigi’s mother – Yolanda Foster – has also spoken publicly about her health battle with Lyme disease, which Gigi’s younger sister Bella and younger brother Anwar, also suffer from.