Gabriella Halikas on How She Learned to Love Her Curves
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Swim Search finalist Gabriella Halikas is a body positive queen. The 26-year-old model never lets the voices of others determine what she wears or how she feels. As the self-proclaimed “CEO of confidence,” she’s inspiring other young girls and women to do the same by encouraging them to practice self-love every day.
The open casting call alumna, who was photographed by Yu Tsai in Atlantic City for the 2021 SI Swimsuit Issue, is open about her relationship with her body, and how it wasn’t always perfect.
As a young athlete, Halikas often often felt “insecure” about her body. The Northern California native starred in the latest installment of “Body Scan” with Women’s Health, and opened up about how much she has grown to love her curves.
“A body part that I definitely learned to grow to love was like my hips and just like becoming more of a fuller figure,” she stated. “I think I was so insecure as a younger kid. And I just felt like an outlier for having like curvier hips and like developing at a younger age and I think I started to learn to love that.”
Halikas is signed with Ford Models and is making career dreams come true while creating change and waves in the industry.
“What I love about my body is that it’s just so strong and powerful and its gotten me through so many hard times and good times,” she continued. “I just want to honor and respect it at any shape and size that it is. I just love everything that my body can do.”
“my interview with @womenshealthmag is out now!!!🥹😭 so so grateful for this opportunity to chat more with the team on my health, fitness, & wellness journey over the years.❤️let your insecurities fuel you into becoming your greatest superpowers!!! 🔥🙌🏼 watch my full interview on their YouTube channel now, linking in my bio! 💙🎥,” she captioned an Instagram post sharing a powerful snippet of the conversation with her 234,000 followers.