Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu reacts to being trolled for weight gain, says she has celiac disease: 'They say I'm fat'

Harnaaz Sandhu is back in India and touring different parts of the country for events and interviews. The former actor, who won the Miss Universe pageant 2021, has been receiving some mean comments online for her changed appearance since winning the crown. Harnaaz says she finds herself beautiful no matter the size. (Also read: Harnaaz Sandhu does namaste as paparazzo tells her 'keep making India proud' at airport. Watch)

The beauty queen appears to have gained some weight in her recent pictures and appearances. Many have been trolling her on social media for it but Harnaaz doesn't pay attention to such comments.

Speaking to PTI, Harnaaz said that she suffers from celiac disease, an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. "I'm one of those individuals who was first bullied that 'she's too skinny' and now they bully me saying 'she's fat'. Nobody knows about my celiac disease. That I can't eat wheat flour and many other things," she said.

She added that one's body undergoes a lot of changes when they live across different cities. "When you go to a village, you see changes in your body. And I went to New York for the very first time... It is a whole other world altogether."

"I'm someone who believes in body positivity and one of the Miss Universes for the very first time is going through that. On the platform of Miss Universe, we talk about women empowerment, womanhood, and body positivity. And if I am going through that... I know there are a lot of people who are trolling me and it's okay because that's their mindset, their stigmas, but there are a lot of other individuals who are trolled every day irrespective of their Miss Universe or not. I'm empowering them by making them feel that if I feel gorgeous, you are beautiful too," she said.

"For me everyone is beautiful. It's about how you represent yourself and what kind of ideology you have. Your features do not matter at one moment. If you think that I'm the most beautiful girl that's why I won Miss Universe, I'm sorry, you're wrong. I might not be the most beautiful (girl) but I might be one of the courageous and confident girls who believes even if I'm fat, even if I'm thin, it's my body, I love myself. I love the changes and you should appreciate it because not everyone can go through the changes. So be happy if you're going through changes. If you are facing challenges in life, you should be thankful because that means something good is going to happen," she added.