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Australian Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has apologised for claiming she is the first plus-sized woman to be a lead actress in a romantic comedy, saying her comments were "not only wrong but also incredibly hurtful".

The Pitch Perfect star said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres that she was "proud to be the first-ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy".

Wilson was promoting her upcoming role in the movie Isn't It Romantic that also stars Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra.

There was a backlash on social media to her remarks, with users pointing out that other plus-sized actresses including Queen Latifah, Ricki Lake, and Mo'Nique had starred in such films.

Wilson was also criticised for blocking some Twitter users who complained.

In a series of tweets on Monday, Wilson wrote that she was "deeply sorry".

"I neglected to show the proper respect to those who climbed this mountain before me," she said.

"With the help of some very compassionate and well-thought out responses from others on social media, I now realize what I said was not only wrong but also incredibly hurtful.

"To be part of a problem I was hoping I was helping makes it that much more embarrassing & hard to acknowledge. I blocked people on Twitter because I was hurting from the criticism, but those are the people I actually need to hear from more, not less."