Top Galway model on crusade to promote healthy body image

Galway model Katherine Gannon is on a crusade to promote healthy body image.

As the current title holder of World Supermodel Ireland and Miss Galaxy Ireland, some might expect the size-10 swimwear model to be the last person harping on about the need to focus on the need to be healthy rather than skinny.

Last year, she was selected from 6,000 hopefuls as the only Irish contestant out of thousands of hopefuls to travel to Cancun to be a model contestant on the American TV series The Fashion Hero. She came second in her category. The show examined whether standards in the modelling industry should be changed to make it fairer for all to get involved, looking at issues such as race, height and weight. Katherine, from Rosscahill, said the series got worldwide airing on channels such as FOX, ABC and CBS to name a few.

“The show is a challenging competition, however the aim is to promote healthy positive body image within the contestants. The hope is that people will understand that you do not have to go through unnecessary or unhealthy lengths to be a model or be involved in the fashion industry,” she explained.

“I was so delighted to be chosen as a contestant at all and so surprised that a model from such a small town in Ireland could have such success in a big American production.”

She has been asked by the production team to promote the show and its values at home, something she says she is happy to do.

For more on Katherine’s crusade, see this week’s Galway City Tribune