Influencer Samantha Kelly, a rising figure on TikTok with over 2.9 million followers, is used to being in the spotlight, but her recent photoshoot drew attention for all the wrong reasons.

The set of pictures, uploaded last Saturday (March 15), sees the model posing on a beach wearing a striped bikini, flaunting her toned physique. Instead of praising Kelly, netizens focused on an alleged “distortion” in her legs, particularly her inner thigh area.

Accusations of the model havingdigitally altered the photo were quickly thrown around, with critics arguing that her legs looked unnaturally slim and misshapen.

“That’s not normal,” one user wrote. “This seems like a very obvious Photoshop fail.”

Netizens accused influencer Samantha Kelly of photoshopping her body in her latest post, pointing toward her inner thigh’s “abnormal” shape

Image credits: samkelly32

Debate followed suit, with fans of the model defending her against an onslaught of negative comments that suggested that the influencer had become the latest in a long line of fitness personalities to digitally alter her photos to make herself look more impressive than she really is.

“Of course, it’s photoshopped. Everything is tweaked. Skinny waist. Skinny arms. Skinny legs. Skinny face. All clearly digitally manipulated,” one user argued.

Image credits: samkelly32

The editing technique in question involves the use ofimage manipulation toolsthat push, pull, enlarge, or shrink parts of a photo to enhance one’s appearance. This practice has become infamous among influencers looking to enlarge their muscles or slim down certain areas of their body for social media.

“That’s the worst photoshop I have seen,” another wrote, pointing out the “unnatural” shape of Kelly’s inner thigh, which seemed to bend outwards, creating a curve between her legs.

Image credits: samkelly32

Some fans stood firm against the flood of accusations, rushing to Kelly’s defense, claiming that her toned body was the result of hard work in the gym rather than digital manipulation.

“This is a natural body of someone who is low body fat and high in muscle mass!” one user argued. 

According to experts, the shape of her legs is the result of the model’s naturally petite frame, coupled with toned muscles and a low body fat percentage

Image credits: samkelly32

Franco Betancourt, a personal trainer with 10 years of experience in physical fitness aimed at women, analyzed the pictures, finding no evidence of them being digitally altered.

“From what I see here, this is a woman with a very low body fat percentage, even among fit women,” the trainer told Bored Panda. “She seems to be around 15% body fat, which is very rare.”

According to the trainer, that, coupled with her naturally petite frame and level of fitness, allows her muscles to be seen in ways that most people aren’t accustomed to.

Image credits: samkelly32

“She’s flexing her rectus femoris muscle, and her knee is bent inwards, which results in that ‘unusual’ shape,” he explained.

“She doesn’t seem photoshopped. This is just a very fit woman, with a small frame and a low body fat percentage.”

Image credits: samkelly32

More neutral netizens theorized that the model might have a condition known as a “hyper-extending knee,” where the joint bends backward beyond the usual limit, especially when the person tenses their muscles.

“Her legs look the same in videos, she just has hyper extended knees!” one user argued.

“My legs are like this.” Netizens went back and forth arguing about the influencer’s physique

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