Cindy Crawford is distancing herself from the 2013 Marie Claire Mexico and Latin America leaked cover photo that went viral this past February that was allegedly un-retouched. The 49-year-old model and mother of two is finally speaking out about the leaked photo, saying that despite the support she got from women, it's a "bad picture" of her.

"It put me in a tough spot," she told ELLE Canada. "I couldn't come out against it because I'm rejecting all these people who felt good about it, but I also didn't embrace it because it wasn't real," she said. "And even if it were real, I wouldn't have wanted it out there."

@CindyCrawford admits she felt 'very conflicted' about fake unretouched photo: https://t.co/QBumw3jmOu pic.twitter.com/XauAxbjmNd

— i-D (@i_D) September 3, 2015

"Why would seeing a bad picture of me make other people feel good?" she wondered. "I know my body, and I know it's not perfect, but maybe I have a false body image; maybe I think I look better than I do. I think that most women are hard on themselves."

Many people praised Cindy Crawford for the leaked photo, saying that it gave them confidence and were inspired by the "realness" of the allegedly un-retouched snap. In fact, Crawford says it was retouched - to make her look worse.

"I felt blindsided," Crawford said. "That picture didn't reflect what I saw when I looked in the mirror -- even in the worst dressing room lighting."

According to MSN Entertainment, after the release of the photo, celebrity photographer John Russo said in a statement to ABC News that the image was "stolen or unlawfully accessed and then altered and distributed to the media."

But Marie Claire commented at the time that the photo was "real," "honest," and "gorgeous."

"No matter where the photo came from, it's an enlightenment -- we've always known Crawford was beautiful, but seeing her like this only makes us love her more," said a statement from the magazine.