Body Neutrality TikToker Sixtine Rouyre Shares Advice for Anyone Struggling With Body Image

The model is the newest 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue rookie.

Sixtine Rouyre.Sports Illustrated Staff

Sixtine Rouyre is a TikTok star who has gained a large following over the past few years for her body neutrality and lifestyle content as a size 10 influencer. The model also happens to have some great body image advice.

Like everyone, she has certain bad days when looking in the mirror can be difficult. The 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie knows self-love—specifically learning to love your body—is a journey and a nonlinear one at that.

Address your struggles 

Her best tip is to figure out the root of your body image struggles.

“I think my advice to people who are struggling with body image is to really take the time and understand why you’re struggling with that,” she explains, encouraging followers to ask themselves, “‘Why do you hate these certain aspects of yourself? Why do you feel insecure about them?’ and think about where that comes from.”

She adds that removing “toxic” aspects of your life, whether it’s specific social media influencers, pop culture magazines or even insensitive family members, can make all the difference.

“Tell them to shut up or hit the road,” she continues. “Somebody is telling you to be [insecure]. Get them out of your space and start following people who are going to tell you the opposite.”

Rouyre was born in Brussels, Belgium, and then moved to Texas with her family. She began modeling at the age of 11 and moved to New York City seven years later to pursue it as her full-time career.

She began consistently posting on social media in 2020, and her following skyrocketed over the course of the pandemic. The 25-year-old now has nearly 900,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram.

Then strip down—literally

Her second biggest piece of advice to people who are struggling with body image might sound like a simple tip, but in reality it’s not that easy.

“So many of us are uncomfortable being naked, so we just need to be naked more often,” she says, encouraging everyone to sit in front of a mirror every day wearing nothing. “It’s gonna be really, really hard at first because you’re gonna wanna look away; you’re gonna wanna stop. Five minutes is gonna seem like forever.”

Rouyre hopes to represent women of her size with her appearance in the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She constantly reminds her followers that “nobody,” not even the girls in the magazine, “look like the girls in the magazine.”

As a body neutrality influencer, she is always candid about calling out advertisements and photos that perpetuate unrealistic body and beauty standards.

“I think when you adapt to something and you get used to it, it’s not such a big thing,” she continues about regularly sitting naked in front of a mirror. “If you’re used to seeing yourself and all the little nooks and crannies and everything, and the rolls and the marks and whatever, then you’re not so shocked every time you see it. So I think you can desensitize yourself to your own body by literally just being naked all the time.”

Meet Sixtine Rouyre—read the 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie’s full feature profile here.