I was wonderfully oblivious to my size before entering modelling, says Pirelli plus size model Candice Huffine

“I love my body! I only have this one so I better love it. I’m a woman, my body changes all the time and I have ‘blah’ days like anyone else, but the important thing is being happy on the inside. The number on the scales is miniscule when there are so many other wonderful things to love yourself for.”

Sound advice, by size 16 Candice Huffine, who appears in ‘The Cal’ alongside some of the world’s most high profile models such as Joan Smalls, Gigi Hadid, Natalia Vodianova, Adriana Lima and Karen Elson.

The 30-year-old brunette beauty tells Look Magazine that the experience was “incredible” and “an honour beyond words” as she believes starring in the legendary calendar has catapulted her into the public eye.

While the American model has thoroughly embraced her size and the label ‘plus size’, she admits that it came as a shock to her during her days doing beauty pageants that she was classified differently to her fellow contestants.

“I was aware the other girls were smaller and slimmer than me. I was wonderfully oblivious to being this ‘other’ that I realised later the fashion industry had a specific category for.”

Candice landed her first modelling contract in 2000, at the tender age of 16 and has graced the pages of Vogue, W Magazine, i-D, V Magazine, and Harper's Bazaar.

The Maryland native said she keeps fit and healthy with regular boxing classes and making her way around New York City on foot. She maintains she loves to cook herself and eats a healthy diet - but enjoys French fries like anyone else.