“I spent five years wishing I was this perfect person online, and I spent three years every day working really hard at it,” she told ABC’s “Nightline.” “I think if people understood just the amount of effort and time that goes into perfecting your life like that and being consistent that I think that wouldn’t be aspirational. I think the reality is quite sad.”
She removed most of her photos from her Instagram feed, and those she didn’t she relabeled with what was going on behind the scenes. For instance, in one shot where she’s posing in a flowing white gown, she’s added a caption that reads, “NOT REAL LIFE—I didn’t pay for the dress, took countless photos trying to look hot for Instagram.” O’Neill told “Nightline” that she quit in an effort to be a better role model to her 14-year-old sisters: “We were talking, and I said this thing to her, ‘When I was your age, you know I looked at models, and I remember actually measuring my stomach and looking in the mirror thinking, “Am I like them? Why aren’t I like them?” and she bursts out in tears and said, “I do that,” and it was just like, far out, you know?'” (ABC News)