Yesterday (October 18) the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show went viral for an unexpected reason.
Images of one young model — or more specifically, her exceptionally narrow waist — ended up capturing most of the attention.
“This is scary,” one reaction read, with others worried that Hollywood’s shift toward extreme thinness showed no sign of slowing.
The woman in the pictures was none other than Beca Michie, whose appearance has been debated online for years.
“She got rib removal surgery,” a viewer claimed.
Model Beca Michie went viral after viewers noticed her waist at the latest Victoria’s Secret show
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Michie grew up between New York and New Jersey in a family with Ecuadorian, Russian and Native American roots.
She has spoken about being teased for her complexion after visiting Ecuador and about searching fashion magazines as a teenager without seeing many people who looked like her.
“Kids at school used to call me ugly, and honestly that stuck with me,” Michie told Numéro Netherlands in September 2025. Beauty campaigns, she said, eventually helped change how she saw herself.
Katie Flores/WWD via Getty Images
Before modeling full-time, Michie worked at a law firm supporting LGBTQ+ women and young people without housing. Her fashion work later included campaigns with Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs and Maybelline.
By September 2025, she had more than 1.9 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
That following brought invitations to major fashion events. Michie sat in the front row at Coach’s Spring 2026 show and attended the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show pink carpet in New York on October 15, 2025.
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Her runway career took a step forward on February 27, 2026, when she walked for Blumarine at Milan Fashion Week. It was her first Milan runway show, and Michie described the moment to InStyle as “a few unforgettable seconds on the runway.”
She also appeared in Vogue Portugal that spring.
On October 18, Michie returned to the Victoria’s Secret event, this time at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.
As photos of her attendance circulated, the theories surrounding her appearance reignited.
Viewers revived claims about editing and even rib removal
Michie’s waist was already a subject of online speculation before the Victoria’s Secret photographs appeared.
Her modeling-agency profile lists a 21-inch waist, but people scrutinizing social-media images have argued over whether camera angles or editing made it appear smaller still.
The claims have ranged from filters to surgery. In an older Reddit discussion, one commenter asked, “Why do people think it’s realistic to edit your ribcage to the same width as your head?”
Another went further into hypotheticals: “She could literally have removed her ribs and it still would not be possible to look like that.”
There is no verified basis for the rib-removal theory.
Still, for some critics, the concern extends beyond whether a picture is authentic.
They worry that an unusually narrow waist, circulated as a modeling ideal, could become something young viewers feel they must achieve. Michie’s growing fashion profile has made that question more urgent to those critics.
On the flip side of that coin, some of her “fans” have criticized the model for “gaining weight” in the past, going as far as to threaten her wellbeing.
By April 3, 2026, the model had addressed another side of it on TikTok. People were sharing pictures taken when she was 18, or after she had eaten, and comparing those images with her usual posts to claim she had gained weight.
Ppl proved she was editing her waist 2 years ago so she got rib removal surgery😭😭 crazy commitment to the bit pic.twitter.com/5GxVyUo8Bi
— hannah (@antifamouss) October 19, 2026
Michie said the commentary hurt her confidence and that some messages had included threats against her life. She urged people to show more care when discussing someone else’s body.
“I’m not a product, I’m a person,” she told Numéro Netherlands.
Hollywood’s “extreme thinness” trend has viewers worried about its influence on young women
Michie’s pictures arrived amid renewed debate over what the fashion and entertainment industries reward.
In a report published today (October 19), Vogue Business counted 9,283 looks across 219 Spring/Summer 2027 shows and presentations. It found that 97.5% were straight-size, while 0.5% were plus-size.
“The rise in popularity of ultra-thinness is dangerous and disappointing,” designer Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen told the publication.
Stars such as Taraji P. Henson, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jenna Ortega have faced accusations of using Ozempic, with viewers treating changes in their appearance as proof.
Other celebrities have spoken for themselves.
Sharon Osbourne, for instance, said in September 2023 that she had lost 42 pounds while taking Semaglutide and had stopped using it but couldn’t get her metabolism to go back to normal afterwards.
“I didn’t actually want to go this thin but it just happened,” she said.
“Weird looking,” a viewer wrote.
