By Molly Claire Goddard
11:32pm PDT, Sep 2, 2025
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Tess Holliday is making a bold statement. The model's latest book,
Take Up Space, Ya'll, is helping people find the confidence to be exactly who they are in a climate where everyone is looking to conform. Holliday speaks exclusively with
Wonderwall.com about what she wants the public to know about the current state of the body positivity movement, the process of writing her new book, how she maintains social media boundaries and more.
Keep reading for the highlights from our chat…MORE:
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The current state of the body positivity movement
As weight-loss drugs continue to make headlines, Tess Holliday emphasizes the value of authenticity. "The biggest act of defiance that we can do during these times is to genuinely be ourselves," she says. "We need to take up space and not shrink ourselves because I think that's what we are being told to do. That's what the system and those who are trying to make us feel like that want. Sometimes I look at my colleagues in my industry and it's vastly different. I miss the times when I felt like we were celebrating and championing true body diversity and all of that. But we aren't at the moment. But that's not going to stop me and others from still trying to keep those memories alive."
Naming her book
"I was brainstorming titles for the book because we had the book mostly written, but I didn't have a title," Tess Holliday says. "Then I just thought to myself, 'Take up space.' That's exactly what I do! I take up space! I always tell people, 'Take up all the space. Don't shrink yourselves. Don't hide yourself.' I told my co-author and she loved it. The rest is history!"
Navigating social media
With constant comparisons merely a click away, Tess Holliday says creating healthy boundaries around social media is key to continuing to feel good about yourself. "I am only human. I am only a human who is trying to survive in what feels like a rat race sometimes because all of this is designed to keep us scrolling, to keep us on our phones, to keep us locked in," she says. "I was just reading a really interesting article where they were talking about the effect that all of this is going to have on us in 10 to 20 years. I don't know if I believe in balance. I don't think that there is such a thing. But when I did write the book, I did put in a few things that I do, such as taking breaks or when I'm with my friends, putting my phone away."
The main message
"When I was writing the book, I kept thinking to myself, 'What would my lonely teenage self really need to read right now? Or when my family was picking on my body, or when my eating disorder developed, what would have been helpful that I knew then?' So it was honestly just from our own personal experiences or being parents, where we have to cover this ground. This is something that I wish I had thought of when I really needed it," Tess Holliday says.
