Tess Holliday has opened up about one of the toughest parts of her childhood, during which her mother became disabled after being shot in the head twice by her former boyfriend.
The supermodel, 32, recounted how her mom, Beth Hoven, was ‘left for dead’ after the attack when Tess herself was just nine years old. At that time, Tess’ parents had separated and Beth was in a relationship with a new man.
‘Most people usually just don’t believe me,’ Tess told Diana Madison in a new interview before recounting the traumatic incident.
Opening up: Tess Holliday (left), 32, recounted in an interview with Diana Madison (right) how her mom, Beth Hoven, was ‘left for dead’ being shot in the head twice when Tess was nine
Aftermath: The supermodel then described how her mother’s life remains affected by the attack, two decades later, since Beth cannot feel the right side of her body
History: Beth (pictured left in an archive photo) had split from Tess’ father, Doug Hoven (right) when another man, who was then Beth’s boyfriend, shot her in the head
‘When I was 10 my mom was shot in the head twice by her soon-to-be fiancé. He was supposed to propose to her a couple weeks after it happened. She was left for dead,’ the model added.
She then described how her mother’s life remains affected by the attack, two decades later.
‘My mom survived. She had to learn how to walk and talk again,’ Tess added.
‘If you looked at my mom you would never know anything happened to her. It’s not until you spend a little bit more time with her, like, I have to help her or someone has to help her when she goes up and down steps.
‘Even sidewalks, she’ll fall because she can’t feel the right side of her body so she can’t feel cracks on the sidewalk. She’s in constant pain.’
Nowadays, Beth splits her time between the house Tess shares with her husband Nick Holliday, and Tess’ grandparents, whom she looks after, the model explained, adding: ‘It’s been quite tough.’
Busy: Tess (pictured in Hamburg, Germany) last week has been traveling around the US and around the world to promote her newly published memoir and work as a model
Striking a pose: After walking during London Fashion Week, Tess took part in a plus-size fashion show in Hamburg, Germany last week
Life: Born Ryann Maegen Hoven in Laurel, Mississippi, Tess (pictured left in an archive photo and right in August) grew up experiencing bullying and abuse, as she recounts in her memoir
Past: Tess (pictured in an archive shot) saw her mother become disabled after being shot in the head twice by her ex-boyfriend, as the model writes in her book
Mother: The model gave birth to her first son, Rylee, when she was 20 years old. She is pictured during her pregnancy, with a prison in the background
Parent: Tess explained in a new interview that Rylee (pictured with her as a newborn) experienced some jealousy after his younger brother, now 15 months old, was born
Born Ryann Maegen Hoven in Laurel, Mississippi, Tess opens up about her childhood, including the attack that left her mother disabled, in her newly published memoir, The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl, which hit the shelves last month.
Tess has also opened up about surviving bullying, sexual assault and abuse in the past.
During her childhood, she said, her father, Doug Hoven, who worked for Auto Zone, cheated on her mother, and was physically violent with his wife as well as with Tess and her brother Tad.
Eventually, Tess cut ties with her father when she was 27 years old.
The model also has three brothers in total but, as she explained in the new interview, she only keeps in touch with two of them.
Surviving this tough childhood has built up Tess’ resilience, which helps her nowadays whenever she faces backlash.
‘Things are not always going to be easy. Things are always going to be tough. But life is just life and you have to just push through it,’ she told Femail during an interview last month.
‘My mom has been through some of the worst things and unfortunately, because of her life being difficult, my life in turn has been quite difficult. And I don’t blame her for any of that because you do the best with what you can in those situations.
‘But I feel incredibly grateful to have had someone like her and seen everything that she’s gone through and realized that there’s always a way out, and you have to be positive even when it’s tough.’
Model: In the future, Tess plans on taking the high fashion world by storm and to make her New York Fashion Week debut
Congratulations! In July this year, Tess shocked her followers by revealing she and Nick (pictured at their wedding), who first met on Tumblr, have secretly been married for two years
Sartorial: Nick donned a jumpsuit with fringe while Tess rocked a turquoise dress and Stars And Stripes boots on the day of the nuptials
Good times: The pair obviously had fun tying the knot and plan on having a bigger ceremony with all their friends and relatives in the future
Brothers: Both of them are now raising Rylee (right), the first child Tess gave birth to, as well as Bowie, their 15-month-old son
Nowadays, Tess, who had her first son, Rylee, when she was 20, also raises a 15-month-old, Bowie, with her husband Nick Holliday, an artist form Melbourne, Australia, whom she met online.
While she often shares family snaps with Nick and Bowie, she tends to post pictures of Rylee less frequently, which has prompted some backlash from mommy-shamers who felt she didn’t feature her eldest child enough.
However, Tess made it clear she has no time for those critics during her chat with Diana Madison.
‘On social media they’re like, “You’re never with your older son, you never post pictures of him,” ‘ she said, echoing some of the comments she has received, ‘And I’m like, “‘Cause he’s almost 12 and he doesn’t want to be on the internet. And also, he was right behind me when I posted that selfie. But people are so judgmental.’
Tess also revealed that her 15-month-old has already been on more than 30 flights and has traveled around the world with his parents, but she has stopped bringing him on each of her trips because chasing after a toddler left her too exhausted to work.
Traveling together, though, has allowed Rylee and Bowie to grow closer to each other, after Rylee initially experienced a bit of jealousy when his younger sibling was born.
‘I didn’t think there would be [jealousy] because he’s too old,’ Tess said. ‘It was hard because it was just me and my son for so long and then when my husband came into the picture he had to get used to sharing me with my husband, and now with the baby it was a lot of adjustment for him.
‘But we just try to give him attention and I think when we’re done with all the craziness of the book tour we’re going to take him on a vacation with just me and my husband so he doesn’t have to share time with his little brother.
‘But he loves him and I think it’s character building for him to have to go through all that.’
Milestone: Tess walked in London Fashion Week for the brand SimplyBe last month (pictured), and intends to keep going in that direction
Tough industry: Tess, who walked in London Fashion Week last month (pictured) also revealed she still gets rejected ‘all the time’ as a model
Book: Tess has been hard at work to promote her newly published memoir, The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl, which hit the shelves last month
In July this year, Tess shocked her followers by revealing she and Nick, who first met on Tumblr, have secretly been married for two years.
‘We just wanted to have something that was ours. We share so much of our lives on social media. We just wanted it to be us,’ Tess told Femail previously.
The pair, who tied the knot in a small, intimate ceremony, now plan to have a bigger bash to include all of their relatives and friends.
In the meantime, Nick remains her main source of support as she travels to promote her book and to take part in modeling jobs.
She often praises Nick on social media for helping her handle her busy schedule, and explained how essential her husband is to her in another interview with Refinery29.
‘I have a hard time relaxing. Part of the reason why my husband travels with me—we work together, but it’s because he tends to be the only person that can get me to eat when I’m so stressed,’ she said.
Story: In the book, Tess opens up about her past and how it has bolstered her confidence
However, despite her support system, and even though she often preaches self-confidence on social media, Tess openly said she still has hard days.
‘It’s definitely been a process, it’s not something that happened overnight,’ she said of her empowered attitude. ‘I still have my moments. I was complaining today. I’ve been a brat today my husband was saying. My face is breaking out from my facial and I’m tired. You just have moments when you’re not always going to feel good.
‘I just need to remind myself that on these days when I don’t feel good, it’s not me or my body. It’s probably the fact that I am hot or tired or run down or stress from kids or work.
‘Instead of internalizing that and making that about myself and my size and whatever, I try to remind myself that there is nothing wrong with me and I just need to be nicer to myself.
‘That all came from modeling and finding clothes that made me feel good and having people around me to support me and understand that sometimes life is hard and sometimes I need to take a chill pill and relax. It all starts from being kinder to yourself.’
Tess, who walked in London Fashion Week last month and previously told Femail she plans on taking the high fashion world by storm as well as make her New York Fashion Week debut, also revealed she still gets rejected ‘all the time’ as a model.
‘I’m not always right for every campaign or whatever, and sometimes people can’t afford me,’ she said.
The model also pointed out how important it is to see all types of bodies being represented, and how she intends to keep putting self-love first.
‘It’s important to see representation, visibility, diversity,’ she said. ‘I get a lot of c**p because people are like, “You’re fat and you’re telling other people to be fat,” and I’m like “No I’m not, I’m telling people to love themselves because if you don’t love yourself, then your life is going to be so much harder.’