Tahlia Brookins was "shocked" to be cast as an America's Next Top Model twelfth-season contestant, but that apparently hasn't been the biggest surprise for the 18-year-old burn victim survivor.
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"I just so happen to be pregnant," Brookins revealed during an appearance on Wednesday's broadcast of The Tyra Banks Show. "My initial reaction to my pregnancy was shock."
Brookins was the sixth contestant eliminated from Top Model's currently airing twelfth cycle, however she said it was "amazing" to have even made it that far in the competition considering she suffered second- and third-degree burns all over her body when she was eight months old and has since endured 14 surgeries to treat the wounds.
"I was told multiple times over and over that I couldn't get pregnant just from my scars holding me back, other physical things going on with my body," Brookins told Banks, according to Us Weekly. "I was always told I was never going to be able to conceive children."
Brookins said when she was competing on Top Model, she and her boyfriend David Michaels Jr. had been going through a rough time in their relationship and added they have yet to make amends.
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"During the show David and I were together," she reportedly told Banks.
"Once I got home, he and I started having some complications. Shortly after that, we did break up because we both agreed that we had some stuff we needed to work on individually. So that is exactly what we are doing and still doing."
Despite the break, Michaels said he won't shirk his responsibilities as a parent.
"When I first found out I was surprised and excited at the same time because members of my family since the moment they saw me and Tahlia together have told me that they know we are going to be together and have a family together," Michaels told Us.
"And, yes we have complications we are working through right now, but I know we will be able to get through it as a couple because we both still are in love."
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Brookins echoed Michaels when speaking to Banks.
"We support each other and our families support us," she said. "So now I'm just ecstatic."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio