Winnie Harlow denies fat-shaming a sunbathing man on her Instagram account

Model Winnie Harlow has hit back at claims she "fat-shamed" a man on social media.

Winnie was criticised for an Instagram Story showing a seemingly overweight man sunbathing on a yacht.

But she has since explained that the man shown is "like an uncle" to her and part of the group she is on holiday with.

She says the video is one of several she had made and that he was in on the joke.

"He was actually poking his tummy out more for the photos and videos we were taking," she wrote on Instagram.

The video has since been deleted but screenshots have been shared online showing a photo of a man lying down with his stomach sticking out.

Both Winnie and "Uncle Terry" shared the same photo of the pair on their Instagram accounts.

She told her 2.3 million followers that body-shaming a stranger is something she "would never do".

She added that 'Uncle T' was enjoying his five minutes of fame.

In his Instagram post, Terry said Winnie's video was just "family jokes".

Winnie also hit out at tabloids who accused her of fat-shaming, saying they are "real bullies for not fact checking before slandering my name".

British newspapers have also claimed that Winnie is holidaying with new boyfriend Louis Hamilton, but she is yet to comment on those rumours.

Winnie has used her supermodel status to raise awareness of vitiligo (a skin condition which results in the lack of pigmentation) and promote body confidence among her young fans.

She has spoken at self-esteem panels and won a role model award from Portuguese GQ in 2015.

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