Dahl: 'I only became a model for fun'

Sophie Dahl has revealed that she only became a model because she thought it would be "great fun".

The former plus-size supermodel, who recently married singer Jamie Cullum, said that she found the attention surrounding her catwalk career bizarre.

Dahl told The Telegraph: "It was a slightly overwhelming and confusing time because I had not gone into modelling with some political agenda. I was 18 years old and someone offered me a job. It was great fun, suddenly like being in this very painted theatre, not quite real.

"That's the whole thing about fashion: it's fantasy. To dip into that at 18 and 19 was amazing. I was a convenient symbol for that time, but it didn't change anything."

The 32-year-old also talked about her weight issues, saying: "In my family, we were all rather plump as teenagers. Then, in our 20s, we narrowed out. I was greedy and ate in that unselfconscious way teenagers do, constantly grazing and eating when I wasn't hungry."

Talking about her writing career, Dahl added: "It really was total heaven to be a writer. As a model or actor you are employed on someone's whim. As a writer, you are in control."