Supermodel Linda Evangelista on Thursday revealed that she was left “permanently deformed” following a fat reduction procedure. The 56-year-old said she had experienced an adverse reaction to the treatment five years ago which actually increased her fat cells.

“I have been left, as the media has described, ‘unrecognisable’,” she told her Instagram followers.

Evangelista went on to say that this was the reason she had disappeared from the public eye.

She also said that she she had undergone “two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries” after the slimming procedure.

“To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers’ careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by… [a procedure] which did the opposite of what it promised,” Evangelista explained.

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The supermodel also revealed that the experience not only “destroyed” her livelihood but also sent her into a “cycle of deep depression, profound sadness and the lowest depths of self-loathing. In the process I have become a recluse.”

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Several of her friends and colleagues showed their support in the comments section of her Instagram post.

“I have always recognised you as someone who was physically beautiful, yes, but more importantly you really shone bright from within… In your darkest moments may you never forget the light you have sparked in so many, and continue to,” designer Brandon Maxwell wrote. 

“You are and always will be a supermodel, now adding super role model of courage to your glorious resume,” wrote designer Jeremy Scott. 

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Evangelista rose to fame in the 1990s. She graced several fashion shows and cover of leading fashion magazine Vogue. She also went on to appear in a George Michael music video alongside Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington.