“We live in the kind of world where I was body-shamed by strangers on the internet at the age of 13, and was told the best thing to do would be to say nothing, crash diet and quietly hate myself,” she writes. “And I did – and I did it well. And it nearly killed me.

“And even when I got to a weight that people considered socially acceptable, I looked in the mirror and I still hated myself. And that’s when I realised it wasn’t ever going to be about what I looked like.”

However, Ross goes on to offer hope to anyone feeling similarly buffeted by societal expectations.

“The only way forward is being kind to yourself – kind to your body, kind to your mind.

“There were many times where I thought I wasn’t going to make it – and sometimes I still feel that way. But I’m here, and so are you, and if you can soften, and treat yourself with compassion and respect, I promise you, one day your acceptance of your self will feel as easy and as blissful as exhaling.”

She adds: “Your body isn’t a problem to be solved – you’re perfect and we’re all just cursed to live in a world with a shitty, narrow view of what’s acceptable and attractive – but I swear, we can change this if we start by changing our own attitudes.

“You are worthy of love. You are understood. You are whole.”

The post has so far garnered hundreds of likes and supportive comments.

Ross promotes body positivity on her social media feeds, and recently took part in a video for The Pink Protest, in which she discusses the change in reaction to her body when she lost weight in the past and how that informed her use of Instagram.

Read this powerful post on self-love by someone who grew up in the public eye