Woman inundated with emails from men after her birthmark photo went viral

A woman who shared a photo of her birthmark online has since been flooded with "so many emails" from men.

Lexxie Harford, 30, who said no to the Channel 4 show The Undateables in 2015, said she was approached after a candid photo of her face birthmark went worldwide.

Eight years later, Lexxie says she still has conflicting feelings about going viral but is glad other people gained confidence from it after kickstarting wider acceptance of facial irregularities.

However, she also opened up about the uncomfortable attention, including from men looking to date or get with her.

Lexxie, from Stoke-on-Trent, said she was inundated with messages, with one married man offering to buy her a house.

"I remember thinking, 'This is bananas'. So many people reached out to me saying, ‘I have this too and I’m not going to wear makeup now’.

"I’ve always been okay with how my face looks. I’m not self-conscious of my face, but I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me who have found confidence because of the story going viral."

SWNS

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Lexxie posted a picture of her birthmark on Imgur in 2015. Before she knew it, it was liked more than 100,000 times, with hundreds commenting too, including American reporters.

"By the end of the night, I had been contacted by an American paper asking if they could write about me," she said, adding: "I agreed thinking it would raise awareness, and then off the back of that loads of people reached out to me - it went viral before going viral was really a thing.

"For someone who might be more sensitive, I can only imagine what it might have done to them."

SWNS

The story snowballed and, within a week, she was asked to appear on dating shows Too Ugly For Love and The Undateables, she claims.

Lexxie said: "Some people were saying ‘I love how you look’ and other people were saying, ‘So you want to be on Too Ugly For Love?’

"Another one that reached out was The Undateables – I think they both try to hide what they actually are but really it was just about saying ‘these people are ugly in our eyes’."

Lexxie says she was also invited to appear in a coverup makeup campaign for a prominent skincare brand.

She says she took part in the campaign as it celebrated differences while offering makeup catered to people with birthmarks or skin discolouration.

And now, reflecting years later, she says she's glad she went viral - for the most part.

Lexxie said: "I think it’s a really good thing and it was where I saw the change start. I don’t mind it being part of my identity, wish I knew a better way to continue to raise awareness."

Credit: SWNS

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