In an exclusive interview with In Touch, This Is Us star Chrissy Metz says although her and character Kate Pearson have a lot in common, she has a very different outlook on life.

“Kate’s self-worth is directly affected by her weight,” Chrissy explains. “I’m con­tending with obvious issues, and I want to lose weight for health pur­poses. I care about what people think to some extent, but I’ve kind of moved on from that.”

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Chrissy prides herself on being a role model for all types of women, not just one body type. “It’s one thing that plus-size women root for me,” she says. “But at a New York restaurant a woman came up to me — she was thin, and seemingly had nothing in com­mon with Kate — and said, ‘I want to tell you how much I love you and the show.’ So it’s not about weight, age or dress size. It’s about human beings trying to connect.”

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That doesn’t mean that Chrissy hasn’t faced her fair share of criticism. “Someone reached out on so­cial media and said, ‘You should get a gastric bypass, here’s my doctor’s number.’ Maybe that was the answer for her,” she continues. “But this isn’t her story. It’s mine.”

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