A TV Producer Thought This Woman’s Birthmark Made Her ‘Too Ugly to Love’
Lexxie Harford doesn’t usually cover her facial birthmark with makeup, but after being approached by two different dating shows in the UK, TLC’s “Too Ugly For Love?” and Channel 4’s “The Undateables,” she felt compelled to share a few selfies, along with a powerful message.
Harford, a graphic designer in England, added two sets of photos to her Imgur account on Nov. 16, which show her with and without makeup. Harford, 23, noted that she’s “used to people being very curious” about her birthmark, but that she’s “absolutely not self conscious about it at all.” She added, “I actually like it a lot.”
Still, when a casting producer approached her, she decided to speak up. “I’m really comfortable and I don’t get offended easily,” Harford told ABC News. “He was very blasé. He tried to cover it and tried to make it prettier than it was. I had to say to him, ‘Look, I don’t really have a place on the show you’re scouting for.’ If they [people with birthmarks] accepted themselves, they really wouldn’t go on a show like that. I would try and get that person to see themselves differently.”
“A lot of people are curious, or a lot of people with birthmarks cover them, so I like to raise awareness,” she added on her Imgur page.
Harford told BBC 5 Live’s Chris Warburton that she wants to “teach people what a birthmark actually is” so people who have them will feel “more comfortable to show them off.”
Harford answered questions from commenters on Imgur, and she’s pleased with the response she’s received.
“I know the first night, the individual photos had over 100,000 views,” she told ABC News. “It was really amazing in terms of the fact that I’ve always wanted to raise awareness; I just never figured out how. The next time they see someone with a birthmark they won’t forget. They’ll know what it is and they won’t get freaked out.”