“Ugly Betty’s” Salma Hayek is stunned to find herself a sex symbol in the US, because growing up in Mexico she was considered “deformed”. .

“I have had my struggles. I am five foot, two inches and in Mexico it was important to be tall. I grew up in a world where beauty was not only tall, it was white and blonde with blue eyes. And I’m dark, have brown eyes and brown hair and I’m short.

People used to say that the short thing was a deformity. I was really upset about my height.”