VICTORIA’S Secret promoted a very specific type of “ideal body” for years, leaving many women feeling they couldn’t live up to the standard.
But one of the lingerie brand’s most famous models admits she had similar insecurities to the rest of us – and struggled to love her body.
Candice Swanepoel, who hails from South Africa and now lives in New York, starred in the world-famous catwalk show from 2007 to 2018.
Now a philanthropist and business owner, the 34-year-old model reveals she was actually teased for her body in school – but motherhood helped her feel “more beautiful.”
Speaking exclusively to The U.S. Sun, as a new ambᴀssador for Anne Klein, she says: “In my teens, I was extremely thin and got teased for it, which is the case for many models.
“At that time it was the formula for finding new girls that were awkward in their teens but by the time they hit 20 had grown into their bodies, and had a few years of experience in the industry.
“Many people believe we have a certain confidence in our genetics but most of us still sometimes feel like that awkward teen.
“It’s a job at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what I think of my body on that specific day, as long as my client is happy, I’m happy.
“I’m there to deliver and play a role and that’s also how I coped with shyness in the very beginning.”
Today, Candice is mother to sons Ariel, four, and Anaca, six, her children with fellow model and ex-fiance Hermann Nicoli.
Asked whether she feels more or less confident modeling in a ʙικιɴι since becoming a mom, Candice says: “Not really.
“I am normal so we all have good days and bad days, but my body has made two little miracles, carried me around the world, and enabled me to experience life so intensely that I’m grateful.
“Instead of picking myself apart on bad angles or changes here and there, I prefer to remember how much my body has endured over the years and the gifts that are my children.”
In total, Candice walked in 11 VS shows, only missing the 2016 year because she was pregnant.
Months after giving birth, she was back posing in the 2017 show.
Likewise, Miranda Kerr, Lily Aldridge, Adriana Lima, Heidi Klum, and Doutzen Kroes all returned to the catwalk after giving birth.