Home Beauty Ellie Goldstein’s new book has a powerful message about love and heartbreak

Ellie Goldstein’s new book has a powerful message about love and heartbreak

0
Ellie Goldstein’s new book has a powerful message about love and heartbreak

[ad_1]

Ellie Goldstein is used to seeing her face on the cover of fashion magazines. But did you know her first-ever cover was GLAMOUR’s September Issue in 2020?

Since then, the fashion model from Essex has turned her attention to major campaigns with the likes of Adidas and Victoria’s Secret, as well as advocating for more disabled representation and inclusivity in the industry. Oh, and she won GLAMOUR’s ‘Gamechaning Model of the Year’ in 2021. Can you tell we’re big fans?

She’s also written her first book, Against All Odds, about her impressive journey from being underestimated as a child to defying all society’s limiting expectations – all with the support of her mother, Yvonne.

Here, she shares an extract with GLAMOUR about love, heartbreak, and relationships.


People are always so interested in other people’s love lives, aren’t they? Well, I can’t blame them. I love love, too. I can see why shows like First Dates and The Undateables are so popular, even though I don’t watch them myself. Lots of people with Down syndrome date, and some get married – for example Down’s activist Heidi Crowder, who married her husband (who also has Down syndrome) in 2020.

People who know me aren’t at all surprised to know that I date. Mum calls me a man-eater! Dating is so much fun. I’ve had loads of boyfriends, most of whom I met at school. I think probably between ten and twenty, but I can’t remember them all. The only names I remember are Jermaine, Troy, Harrison, Glen, Antony and Jack.

Ellie Goldstein at the GLAMOUR Women of the Year Awards 2022.

Lia Toby

I started seeing my first boyfriend when I was sixteen. We met at the school for people with moderate learning difficulties (the one I didn’t like – so I guess there was an upside after all). His name was Jermaine, and he was very kind. He didn’t have Down’s, but he had some other struggles. I don’t know exactly what they were, but his learning difficulties were very mild. And he was handsome. He was a year older than me – an older man! It looked very funny when we were together, though, because I’m four foot nine and he was six foot, so there was a big height difference.

It all started in one of our classes. We should have been concentrating on the lesson, but instead, he put his hand on my hand while the teacher wasn’t looking. There was no way I could focus on the lesson after that! We carried on talking, and the teacher even told us off for chatting to each other so much. I knew I fancied him, and when he touched my hand, I knew he fancied me, too. We were flirting with each other for a bit – I’m very good at flirting. Then I decided to be direct and ask him the question: ‘Do you want to be my boyfriend?’

He said yes, and we dated for eight months. It was so much fun. He was the first person I kissed, and he kissed me a lot. He would call me after school. When February came around, he got me a very special Valentine’s Day present: a gold bangle with a few bits of silver and diamantes on it. He had asked what colour bracelet I would like a few weeks before, and he got it just right. I loved it, and I still have it in my jewellery box today.

[ad_2]

Source link