Camille Kostek said Gronk made her realize she shouldn't have to conform to the crazy, unrealistic standards in traditional modeling ... and it turned out to be some of the best advice she's ever gotten.

"He had seen me get rejected by a lot of agencies," Kostek said on Mark Dohner's "Livin' Large" podcast ... explaining how she was sometimes told to lose 15 pounds in 3 weeks or to shed inches off her thighs in order to be considered for jobs.

"I was like, I just don't want to do that. [Gronk] was like, 'Do you even want a body like that?' And I was like, 'No.' And he was like, 'Yeah, I don't even want you to be like that.'"

Turns out, it was great advice -- the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition tapped Kostek to be a rookie model in 2018, and her career has exploded ever since.

And now, those same agencies that wanted her to starve herself are probably begging for a callback. How's that for karma?!

There's a bunch more in the interview ... Camille also talks about her time as a Patriots cheerleader ... and how she linked up with Christian Yelich for the California Strong campaign for the CA wildfires and Borderline Bar shooting.