Model Chantelle Brown-Young talks beauty, self-confidence and 'ANTM'

Growing up in Mississauga, Ont., Chantelle Brown-Young was teased mercilessly for being different.

Diagnosed with vitiligo when she was still a child, Young-Brown’s almond-coloured skin began developing white patches when she was just three or four years old. Growing up, kids would call her “cow” or “zebra” – but it was her atypical beauty that led her to where she is today.

“A lot of people have a story and a background, but mine is painted on my body,” the 20-year-old said in her “America’s Next Top Model” audition tape. Earlier this year, Brown-Young was chosen to be one of 14 hopefuls competing on the 21^st cycle of ANTM: “Guys & Girls.”

“[Modelling] was something I kind of just fell into,” she tells Yahoo Canada after making a speech at Square One mall’s massive new expansion last week.

“I did a photoshoot and an interview with a Canadian journalist named Shannon Boodram, who’s like a big sister to me now. She saw me on Facebook, and like a lot of people, at first she thought my skin was done with makeup or paint and I was just doing something cool for a picture,” Young-Brown explains. “But when she found out that wasn’t it, she thought that I was gorgeous and wanted to interview me and talk to me about my skin and my upbringing.”

Brown-Young cut her teeth walking in fashion shows and posting her work to her Instagram, which led to her stint on “Top Model.” But despite the show being a dream for many fashion industry hopefuls, the Canadian wasn’t sure she wanted to be part of it.

“There’s a stereotype that comes with the show where it’s like you’re not a real model, you are a reality star – and that’s not what I’m looking for,” she says. “But in everything you have to take the good with the bad. I was like, you know what, it’s an amazing platform and it’s going to give me somewhere that I can show my face and let my voice be heard – and if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. So I just took the opportunity that was at hand and it made for a lot of amazing opportunities.”

But while her experience on the popular show has given exposure, she also says that the negative backlash she received from it trumps any bullying she experienced when she was young.

“Before the airing of the show, I felt like being bullied and the things I went through in my childhood were horrific. They were ridiculously bad. But the worst battle I’ve gone through to date is the negativity from the show,” she says.

“It kind of looks like since I’m handling it well, they can bully me even more. But it’s just the fact that I’ve been through so much that I can stand up to most things. And sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I’ll break down and I’ll cry – I am a human being,” she continues. “But there are many things I can hold a straight face for, and some people think that means that I am cold or I’m a b—ch, but it’s just being able to take backlash.

After all, she’s had a lot of experience dealing with negativity – but says she overcame her self-doubt by trying not to be consumed by the opinions and thoughts of others.

“I always say, you are the only one who has to live with you for the rest of your life. No one else has to live with you – not your mom, not your dad, your sister, your boyfriend – no one has to be with you for the rest of your life,” she says. “They may want to and they may do it, but no one has to except for yourself. So the only choices you should make are ones that make you happy.”

Young-Brown was originally eliminated in week four of the competition, but was brought back in week 10 after the show opened up redemption voting to the public. Although she was eliminated for good in episode 13, Brown-Young’s comeback was largely thanks to her vast social media following. On Instagram, she has nearly 325,000 followers – and that’s how she caught the eye of supermodel and “ANTM” host and executive producer, Tyra Banks.

“I actually didn’t apply for the show,” she says. “Tyra Banks saw me on Instagram and she had the production look for me and find out where I was. It was actually kind of unfortunate because they thought I was American, so it was a bit harder than they thought it would be to get me on the show. But they worked it out!”

Her Instagram account is made up of stunning modelling shots combined with inspirational quotes and fan art – it’s clear she has a loyal following of people who find her just as inspirational as we do – many who say they’ve struggled with bullying or self-confidence. A struggle that Young-Brown knows well, she has some advice for any followers dealing with those issues.

“Self-image or self-confidence, it has to do with yourself,” she says. “Those things are scarred so much by other people, but those are really things within yourself. Those are things you should focus on yourself instead of looking towards the opinions and validation from other people that yes, you are beautiful. You should know that you are beautiful, you should know that you are creative, you should know that you are beautifully and wonderfully made. That’s just something you have to believe within yourself.”

We couldn’t agree more.