Harnaaz Sandhu tells Trevor Noah she was never timid during weight gain criticism: 'Young girls and boys look up to me'

Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu opened up about her weight gain and why her reaction to the online trolling mattered. The 22-year-old star revealed that young boys and girls look up to her, so she was never timid during the weight gain criticism.

Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu made an appearance on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah this week. The pictures and videos from the interview are going viral on social media, delighting Harnaaz's fans. During the show, Harnaaz not only had fun interacting with Trevor, but she also touched upon some important issues that affected her after becoming the reigning Miss Universe. The 22-year-old beauty queen opened up on the show about being criticised for her weight gain, how her reaction would have impacted the young people who look up to her, and why staying strong in that situation mattered to her.

On Sunday, the official Instagram page of Miss Universe posted a video of Harnaaz from The Daily Show chatting with host Trevor Noah. They captioned the post, "'Be your OWN cheerleader'. Harnaaz Sandhu sat down on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to talk about empowering women through menstrual equity." The clip shows Harnaaz talking about her weight gain and how she was relentlessly trolled online. She then explained her reaction to the situation mattered because of all the young girls and boys who looked up to her.

The video begins with Harnaaz saying, "I was really disheartened when I saw people bashing me for my weight gain, but I didn't let them describe me. Their's young girls, like six or seven-year-old girls and even boys, looking up to me. And if they see me being timid, if they see me being not strong enough, I don't think that would be the right way to be that impactful person or inspire them. I want to tell them that inspiration starts within you. If you inspire yourself, that's how you can inspire a lot of people."

Trevor interviewed Harnaaz this week and several snippets from the occasion have gone viral. Even Harnaaz shared a clip of herself teaching Bollywood dance steps to the talk show host. She captioned her post, "It was such a pleasure to share the stage with one and only Trevor Noah. Thankyou The Daily Show for having me on your show! Trevor Noah remember, it's all in the hips! Bollywood is watching."

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Harnaaz was the centre of online trolling and bullying because of her weight gain after winning the Miss Universe pageant. The beauty queen revealed at that time that she had celiac disease.