Theresia Fischer in an interview: Leg lengthening because of bullying at school

Theresia Fischer, 30, has been a guarantee of a good mood since she took part in “Germany’s Next Top Model” in 2019. So it’s no wonder that the lively model has now also been cast for the new reality TV format “Club of Good Moods”. But if you take a closer look at Theresia as a person, it becomes clear: the 30-year-old is not always in a good mood everywhere – on the contrary. Theresia has been suffering from depression for years, was bullied when she was young and has been trying to work through it all for some time. Despite minor marital crises, her husband Thomas Behrend, 58, is also a support, whom she married with Heidi Klum, 48, as a wedding speaker in the GNTM live final.

Most recently, Theresia made headlines, especially with her leg operations. In two complex operations, she had her legs lengthened and admits, although many cannot understand it: “Yes, the surgeries have a lot to do with my past”. In an interview with GALA, Theresia explains in more detail why the increased height has also helped her to grow mentally.

Theresia Fischer meets like-minded people in the “Club of Good Moods”.

Dear Theresia, let’s be honest, is there always a good mood in the “Club of Good Moods”?

Let me put it this way, many participants do their best to live up to the title of the show, including myself (laughs). But there are also a few grumps in between.

At what moments in life do you lose your good mood yourself?

When it gets emotionally very exhausting for me… We also tell each other stories from life “in the club” that aren’t so nice. I met like-minded people there, people who, like me, were not always accepted for who they are. To people who, like me, suffer from intermittent depression. I’m glad that there were people on the show who kept pulling me out of this hole of sadness. That welds together.

You have already mentioned on Instagram that you suffer from depression. How are you doing with it today and what exactly are you doing against the depression?

I would never have admitted it before, but I’m a master of distraction. When I’m feeling bad, I go out a lot and meet up with friends. It’s good for me at the moment, but I sometimes offend people, especially in my private life. Because then I flee from the bad mood and look for tasks, some people can’t understand that. But I also get help, which makes me feel much better.

Offspring plans with husband Thomas Behrend

To what extent is your husband Thomas a support to you?

In the beginning, of course, Thomas had to realize and understand the whole thing. But then he figured it out relatively quickly. He then tries to pull me out of the depressive moments and he usually succeeds.

You’ve had a little marital crisis lately. How are you doing today?

Thomas and I talked a lot about it. Sometimes it’s not that easy because we both lead lives where we travel a lot. But I think we’re doing well now and we’re both giving ourselves space. Marriage is work, every day. You are always faced with new challenges. At the moment I’m glad that we only have to take care of the two of us and not a child together. I think it’s important to first work on our marital problems before we think about having children.

Does that mean you want to have children?

Yes, yes… Well, a child (laughs). When I met Thomas back then, when I was 23, I told him right away that I wanted to have a child by the time I was 30. Well, I’m 30 now… (smiles). But it really doesn’t fit right now. I don’t want to give up on my other desires just yet. Many people project all their happiness onto a child, but I can’t and don’t want to do that at the moment. Thomas is fully behind me and doesn’t put me under pressure. And that despite the fact that he is almost thirty years older than me.

Leg lengthening for increased self-confidence

But visually you have also contributed to the fact that you feel better mentally. You had a second leg extension. How are you currently?

It’s a daily struggle. I am very happy that I took this last step and can close the topic with it. I was 1.70 meters before, in the end I’m between 1.83 and 1.84 meters. At the moment, however, it is still a heavy burden. Outside I still walk with crutches, inside the house I can do without. But I am still in the middle of the lengthening process, not in the healing. This is always misunderstood by many.

Can you explain in more detail how exactly this works?

The doctor only makes the access, but I have to extend it myself. That means the doctor broke the legs about a quarter below the knee and used rotation rods there. This gap, which is held by the nails, is broken almost every day, because the bone grows back together minimally every day. I take strong pain killers every morning, warm up and stretch my legs a bit, eat a banana, and then it’s time for the actual lengthening act. By 0.5mm every day. This is very painful. I place my lower leg on top of my thigh and rotate my foot. There is a small clicking noise when rotating outwards, and it bangs very loudly when rotating inwards. My physical therapist really wanted to hear that. He got sick of it…

This is so painful. It feels like your leg is rotated 360 degrees. There are people who allow themselves to be put under anesthesia during the lengthening process because they cannot endure the enormous pain.

You justified the leg extensions with bullying in school. This causes criticism from some users. Quite provocatively asked: Wouldn’t it have been better and more exemplary to do therapy instead to deal with the injury from back then?

I’ve been in therapy for half my life. Leg lengthening is my own approach to healing. Of course, I also have this accompanied therapeutically. It’s always easy to judge from the outside. I’m not hurting anyone else with this. I heal myself. I was with a child and adolescent psychologist from the age of 13 to 18 at the time. It helped me at the moment, but unfortunately not in the long term. In the years that followed, I kept having memories of the bullying period, so that I fell into severe depression. I couldn’t get along at all with my life for a while.

My doctor told me that it is psychologically accepted that women who suffer from small breasts can be healed by breast surgery. However, this is not yet the case with leg lengthening because there are still too few studies on this. For my part, I can say that I did everything right. The first operation gave me strength and self-confidence. I was at a class reunion in 2019. At that time, the season of GNTM was running on TV. I stood in a whole new dimension – in the truest sense of the word – in front of the people who hurt me so much at the time. It was an incredible salvation.

Are there any other surgeries you are planning?

no I’ll be happy when the second healing phase is over. Then there is a layer in the shaft. I will no longer have any other voluntary surgeries done to me. I’m happy the way I am now.

“Club der Gute Mood” starts on May 4, 2022 at 8:15 p.m. on Sat.1.

Gala