Candice Susan Swanepoel isn’t your average supermodel. The blonde beauty was born on October 20, 1988 in a small village in the coastal South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and was raised on a dairy and beef farm.
When she was just 15 years old, a model scout spotted Swanepoel walking around a flea market in Durban, a small South African harbor city that’s extremely popular with surfers, and the rest, as they say, is history. Deciding to pursue modeling full-time, Swanepoel moved to Europe and her risk sure paid off! She soon began making waves in the fashion industry, becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel in 2010 and walking in every single Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (sporting the $10 million Fantasy Bra in 2013, no less!) since then.
In addition to being one of today’s most successful and sought-after models, Swanepoel is also a proud mama to two adorable boys, plus she’s one smart Angel! Did you know she’s fluent in three languages (English, Afrikaans and Portuguese)? Yup, she is full of surprises! So without further ado, here are some interesting facts you never knew about Candice Swanepoel.
She still gets nervous on the runway
You might think someone who has walked in hundreds of fashion shows and posed for countless pH๏τo shoots wouldn’t be in the least bit phased by the thought of walking down a catwalk. But you’d be wrong! As Candice Swanepoel revealed in an exclusive chat with Her Campus, the ʙuттerflies never really go away. Not completely, at least. “The runway, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I get more nervous every year!” she said when asked if she gets more nervous on a pH๏τo shoot set or during a fashion show. “The fashion show, because it’s live, because there’s a mᴀssive audience, because millions of people see it — it is just crazy.”
One of her favorite beauty products comes from the kitchen
The popularity of coconut oil has exploded over the years and its long list of health and beauty benefits have solidified it as a great all-around must-have for some people. As it turns out, Candice Swanepoel has been on the coconut oil train for years. Speaking with Vogue in August 2015, the supermodel revealed her love of all things coconut oil, saying, “I use organic coconut oil to take my makeup off, I also add it to my smoothies to keep my skin glowing. It’s a great all round natural beauty product. The main thing my mom taught me was that you can never be too young to start taking care of your skin!”
She thought being named Maxim’s H๏τtest female was a “practical joke”
Candice Swanepoel topped Maxim’s Hot 100 list in 2014, snagging top honors as the planet’s H๏τtest and most beautiful woman. Just one year earlier, she came in at No. 63 (talk about making a serious jump in 365 days!), which just goes to show how quickly her popularity had skyrocketed.
Swanepoel’s fame has grown so quickly, in fact, that she couldn’t quite believe the news herself. “My agent gave me the call and I was, at first, a little bit wary,” Swanepoel revealed to ET Online while attending the Maxim Hot 100 bash celebrating her cover. “I was like, ‘Who rigged that? Who decided that? Is this a practical joke?'”
Who was the beauty Candice thought should have taken home the тιтle? “I was really surprised that Scarlett Johansson was not number one,” she said. Scarlett Johansson came in second that year.
Her favorite place on earth is Brazil
When Candice Swanepoel graced the cover of 10 Magazine’s Sensuality Issue in Spring/Summer 2015, she opened up about — you guessed it — her sensuality, but also about her favorite place on earth.
As a supermodel, Swanepoel has had the chance to travel to plenty of major cities across the globe, but picking just one favorite spot is not as hard as it sounds. “In New York, we base people on what they do, how much money they have,” she declared, as the Daily Mail reported. “No one knows anything about the fashion industry in Brazil. They don’t care what you do. They just want the beach and the sun and the fun. I feel the freest and the happiest there. There, I can just be the normal Candice.”