‘Role model’ Holly Hagan praised for showing off acne in make-up free snap

Holly Hagan has bravely shown off her acne while going make-up free in a candid Instagram post.

The former Geordie Shore star, who got engaged to footballer beau Jacob Blyth last year, shared the bare face snap while opening up about battling body dysmorphia.

Alongside the photo, she wrote, “It’s taken a long time for me to learn to love and accept myself. I would have never been able to post a photo like this in the past but now that I can I really want to help others do the same 🙏🏼.

“That’s why I was so excited to be taking part in @superdrug podcast 'The Beauty of It All' with host @vicknhope talking about beauty dysmorphia."

“It’s no secret that I’ve turned to drastic diets and even surgery in a quest for 'perfection'. It’s been a difficult journey but to be able to share my story and help others is so amazing 💜.”

Holly’s followers quickly took to the comments to praise her for opening up, with one calling her a “role model”.

“You’re a very special human ❤️,” added another.

A third wrote, “You are gorgeous with or without makeup 😍.”

Podcast host Vick Hope then added, “Thank you so much for sharing so honestly and openly with us, I know you will have helped so many people 💗💗💗.”

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The 28-year-old previously spoke out about her battle with body image issues and revealed she “risked her life” by having weight loss surgery after she was branded “the fat one” of the Geordie Shore cast.

“I spent years of my life trying every single diet fad in the hope of finding ‘the secret’. I tried the teas the coffees the carb blockers, drinking nothing but water and cayenne pepper DESPERATELY trying to be thin,” she wrote on Instagram last year.

“I would resort to making myself sick, fat freezing and eventually I would risk my life on an operating table because I genuinely believed there was no other option.

“I just wanted the abuse to stop. But it didn’t stop it went from ‘fat slag’ to ‘too much surgery looked better before’ ‘you’re the reason our children feel under pressure to get surgery’ ‘what has she done to herself she looks horrendous’... you can’t abuse someone for the way they look for 8 years and then be shocked when they succumb to the pressure.”

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Since then, Holly has overhauled her lifestyle after embarking on a fitness journey and showed off the impressive results of a 12-week transformation in February.

Crediting her personal trainer for “changing her life”, she told fans, “I’ve been so nervous to post these because this has been so much more than just looking thinner. I’m not saying ‘go do this and you’ll get my body’, I’m simply showing my results from 12 weeks hard work at the gym.

“I still have a long way to go and so many more fitness goals to hit but I feel confident that I’ll get there.”