Model Anastasia Parshentseva, 30, says she was given the title of tallest woman in her home country of Kazakhstan, but while she loves being tall now, when she was younger she was often teased because of her height.

Anastasia, who now lives in Moscow, Russia, said: “I have always been very tall for my age and the tallest among peers at school and university.

“When I was a teenager, strangers – mostly children and fools – laughed at me and often called me names like ostrich or giraffe.

“This made me very upset but I never tried to hide my height by slouching or not putting on heels.

“I always walked with my head held high and tried to take no notice of how people pointed at me, but when I was alone I was sad.

“When I started modelling everything changed – all the insecurities disappeared from the first day and now I am glad that I am so tall and stately.

“Standing next to models my height and taller made me realise that we are unique, that this is God’s gift and that being tall is cool – I finally fell in love with myself and my uniqueness.

“After university I moved to the city of Almaty and there was a member of the club of tall people of Kazakhstan and I was awarded the title ‘The Tallest Girl in Kazakhstan’.

“Now I have lots of Instagram fans who love me, my height and long legs – they sincerely admire the real me and this makes me even more confident and happy.”

As well as finding body confidence, Anastasia has also found love with husband Sergey Parshentseva, who is 6ft.

The model says although at first they were a bit self-conscious about their height difference but have since embraced it.

She added: “At first, we were both uncomfortable because the height difference was unusual, but after a while we stopped paying attention to it.

“It doesn’t bother us now at all – we love each other and if it were not for my height, he probably would not have noticed me.

“People might stare because of our height difference and question why it doesn’t bother us, but we don’t pay attention to them.

“He loves when I put on heels and every time we go out somewhere I see how proud he is that I am his woman.”