Kim Kardashian developed a "full phobia" of going out after unflattering paparazzi pictures of her on holiday in Mexico were published.

The 36-year-old star was photographed looking less than picture perfect while on vacation in April (17), but the ramifications of the shots are being explored in the current season of reality series Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

In Sunday night's (15Oct17) episode of the show, Kim admitted that seeing the images of herself had led to her becoming incredibly worried about ever going outside - for fear of being caught in a bad angle again.

"I just am in the house so much that I get so freaked out if anyone like, looks at me,” she told the cameras. “(It’s a) full phobia - I freak out about everything. Why do I subject myself to being seen? Why don’t I just stay at home?"

Kim also admitted that the fact the pictures were still in the spotlight was contributing to her self-consciousness.

"When will they stop with this story?" she moaned. "You definitely get a thick skin once you have been through it a lot, but pictures just keep coming up every day and they just won’t let it go. I know I can handle anything and everything, and if I can’t handle it … who can?"

Kim's sister Khloe added in a piece to camera: "I just feel bad that Kim is now so insecure. She literally has the body of a Barbie doll. I get like that, too, and I feel fatter so I feel bad, but I don’t think anyone should live life like that."

Khloe and oldest sister Kourtney then got involved, trying to keep her off the gossip websites that continually published the images, with Kourtney explaining: “Kim is normally not this insecure. If she just didn’t have access to social media or just stopped looking at the blogs, I think that she would start to feel better."

In order to do so, they decided to wipe all the social media apps from Kim's phone. And while the mother-of-two was initially furious, she soon acknowledged that her sisters may well have a point.

“I mean, you guys are right,” she said. “I do need to let this not bother me and not be a thing. I’ll live like this for like, two days, and see how I feel.”