<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"   Alexa Chung is one of Britain&amp;#039;s favourite models and telly presenters, but the stunning fashion star has revealed that she had to battle low self-esteem to get where she is today. And, more shockingly, she had to endure years of &amp;quot;creepy men&amp;quot; taking advantage of her dreams, asking her to do things she did not want to do in a bid to clamber up the career ladder. Speaking to The Times, Alexa paints quite a dark picture of her early modelling career, admitting she didn&amp;#039;t ask her parents for advice on it as she felt much of what she did was &amp;quot;very wrong&amp;quot;: &amp;quot;I actually kept modelling very separate. I never really asked my mum or my dad&amp;#039;s advice during that time and it actually felt like I didn&amp;#039;t want to tell them too much about the reality of what was going on - when I was taking the train to London and being asked to do certain things.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I already knew it was wrong. So, you know, if there was a casting where some creepy man there had gone on to his flat in Ilford, and , you know, &amp;#039;Take your clothes off...&amp;#039; and if I&amp;#039;d have done it, I won&amp;#039;t tell my mum because I know that&amp;#039;s wrong.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;You had lots of castings where they were like, &amp;quot;This is for swimwear&amp;quot;, and in hindsight, I look back and think, &amp;quot;Did you really need an 18-year-old girl to strip in your front room?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I get flashbacks now. Loads of flashbacks. I&amp;#039;ll be reminded of something because I&amp;#039;ve sort of blocked it out and I don&amp;#039;t really think of those days... God, did I have low self-esteem then.&amp;quot; Nowadays Alexa is a British star in her own right - but we can&amp;#039;t help but think, reading her story, some sort of union needs to be put in place to protect vulnerable young teens during their struggle to make it as a model or actress. Do you, like Cosmo, think guidelines need to be established to help protect young models? Let us know below or tweet us at @CosmopolitanUK. SEE ALEXA CHUNG&amp;#039;S STYLE CV SUPPORT COSMO&amp;#039;S CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL PAY WOULD YOU LET YOUR PARTNER TAKE NUDE PHOTOS OF YOU? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/entertainment/news/a20707/alexa-chung-dark-side-of-modelling/?ignoreCache=1>