Sophie Dahl no fashion revolutionary

Sophie Dahl was ˝Overwhelmed˝ by the attention she received as a fuller-figured model because she hadn´t expected to cause such an outcry.

Sophie Dahl doesn't think she changed the modelling world.

The former supermodel - who was celebrated on the catwalk for her fuller figure - didn't realise how much of an outcry her career would cause because she only entered the fashion industry for fun.

She said: "It was a slightly overwhelming and confusing time because I had not gone into modelling with some political agenda. I was 18 years old and someone offered me a job. It was great fun, suddenly like being in this very painted theatre, not quite real.

"That's the whole thing about fashion: its fantasy. To dip into that at 18 and 19 was amazing. I was a convenient symbol for that time, but it didn't change anything."

Sophie, 32, is now much slimmer than in her modelling days, but insists she has never consciously dieted.

She said: "In my family, we were all rather plump as teenagers. Then, in our 20s, we narrowed out. I was greedy and ate in that unselfconscious way teenagers do, constantly grazing and eating when I wasn't hungry."

Sophie is glad she's now left modelling behind and can concentrate on her writing, because it's given her back the control.

She said: "It really was total heaven to be a writer. As a model or actor you are employed on someone's whim. As a writer, you are in control."