Chrissy Teigen calls celebrities to apologise after admitting she 'was a troll' on social media

Chrissy Teigen, the American model and television presenter, has started privately calling people who she bullied on social media to apologise for her “awful, horrible” behaviour.

The 35-year-old mother-of-two attacked a number of celebrities, mocking actress Lindsay Lohan for self harming, fat-shaming singer Mariah Carey and saying she would rather be infertile than have a child like pop star Avril Lavigne.

She also called a nine-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis, nominated for an Academy award, “cocky” and allegedly sent messages to television personality Courtney Stodden telling her to kill herself.

In a public apology, shared with her 13.5 million social media followers, Ms Teigen said "not a day, not a single moment has passed where I haven't felt the crushing weight of regret for the things I've said in the past".

Ms Teigen, who is married to award-winning singer John Legend, wrote that she is in the process of contacting people she had targeted online.

"There is simply no excuse for my past horrible tweets,” she said, describing them as "awful, awful" and that she is "truly ashamed" of them.

“My targets didn't deserve them. No one does.

"Many of them needed empathy, kindness, understanding and support, not my meanness masquerading as a kind of casual, edgy humour.

"I was a troll, full stop. And I am so sorry."

Ms Teigen was one of Twitter's most prominent users and the platform once referred to her as its mayor.

She once clashed with Donald Trump during his presidency and he later blocked her and called her "filthy mouthed".

But she took time away from social media and stepped back from a voiceover role on Netflix comedy ‘Never Have I Ever’ when the abusive tweets, many sent a decade ago, came back into the public sphere.

Only last October, Ms Teigen received widespread praise for her frank, open posts about suffering a stillbirth.

She posted a black-and-white picture of herself weeping in a hospital gown with her hands clasped in prayer, following the death of her premature son, Jack.

Another showed her holding the baby as Mr Legend kissed her shoulder.

“I had asked my mom and John to take pictures, no matter how uncomfortable it was. I explained to a very hesitant John that I needed them, and that I did NOT want to have to ever ask. That he just had to do it. He hated it. I could tell.” she wrote afterwards.

“I knew I needed to know of this moment forever. And I absolutely knew I needed to share this story,” she said.

She was praised by charities and a number of women who experienced loss in similar circumstances.