Guess Which Supermodel This Adorable Child Turned Into!
Hint: She married a famous athlete.
Some swans start out as ugly ducklings. Other swans start out beautiful and just keep getting more beautiful. We think that's what happened with this supermodel-to-be.
Can you guess who the kid in the photo turned out to be? That cute little kid striking a pose is Gisele Bünchend. We wouldn't have guessed that either but there's no doubt that she was a beautiful little girl who grew up to be a beautiful woman.
These days, the 39-year=old Victoria's Secret model is married to New England Patriot champ Tom Brady and they have two kids together. She works on a lot of environmental causes and hopes to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on the planet.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane with the most successful supermodel in the world.
1. She broke into modeling after winning a contest.
Gisele Bünchden was born in Brazil and has five sisters, including a fraternal twin. When she was 14, Bünchen came in second in a modeling contest in her native Brazil and landed a contract with Elite Model Management. From there, she wound up on the runways at New York Fashion Week in 1996. In her first years of modeling, she landed gigs with Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns as well as appearing on magazine covers. Her beachy, curvy look was. shift from the "heroin chic" ideal of prior years and she was lauded as the return of the sexy model. Her runway style with her stomping "horse walk" became her trademark and was emulated by other models.
In 2000, she signed with Victoria's Secret in what would be the biggest modeling contract of all time. She stopped walking other brands' catwalks then but she continued doing photo work for brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana and others. She even tried her hand at acting in a few films, though that aspect of her career never really took off. By 2016, some estimates suggest she was making $30 million per year.
Then and now.
2. She has a twin sister.
Bündchen has a twin sister but that doesn't mean she has an automatic body double. Her sister Patricia is her fraternal twin so they aren't identical. Patricia is considerably shorter than her supermodel-height sibling, though she is just as beautiful. Patricia tried modeling but moved behind the sense to be her twin's manager and spokesperson. They also work together on a lingerie company they founded in 2001 called Intimates.
Twinning — literally.
3. She dated Leonardo DiCaprio or five years.
The supermodel and heartthrob actor Leonardo DiCaprio had a long relationship starting in 2000 after his success in Titanic. They had a brief split before reuniting and ending up on named People's Most Beautiful Couple in 2004. But Bündchen felt like he stopped being the right person for her when she was going through a difficult period with her mental health.
4. Things weren't always easy for her.
In her 2018 memoir Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life she opened up about her struggle with anxiety. She used to have panic attacks that would bring her to rock bottom, to the point that she even contemplated suicide in the middle of one. "It was like I was trapped and I couldn't breathe, and even outside of my own balcony," she shared about a severe panic attack she had years ago.. "And from that moment on, you know, I realized that my life needed to change." The changes she adopted were lifestyle alterations. She quit smoking, alcohol and sugary drinks. She also moved to a plant-based diet and took up meditation and yoga to help her with peace of mind.
5. It was love at first sight with Tom Brady.
After her final breakup with DiCaprio, she spent a year single and said that was time spent getting to know herself better, When she finally met Tom Brady in 2006, she knew instantly that he was the one. “I knew right way — the first time I saw him,” she said at the time. “We met through a friend. The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, 'That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I’ve ever seen!' We sat and talked for three hours. I had to go home for Christmas, but I didn’t want to leave. You know that feeling of, like, you can’t get enough? From the first day we met, we’ve never spent one day without speaking to each other.”
Bünchen and Brady on Valentine's Day.
6. They kept their engagement a secret.
The couple has been living together for two years when they got married in 2009. The wedding was announced after the fact — they hadn't even confirmed that they were engaged. Bündchen said she didn't wear her ring in public to minimize the attention that it would bring to her. In February 2009, they had a small wedding at a Catholic church in Santa Monica that was followed by an intimate reception at their house in Brentwood. Bündchen said she kept it small on purpose. “I don’t like parties," she explained. "I prefer something more intimate, just for the closest people.”
7. They have two children together.
Brady and Bundchen had their son Benjamin together later in 2009, followed by daughter Vivian in 2012. Bündchen focused more on being with her kids after becoming a mom, though she never stopped working entirely. "When I became a mother, it really became my priority. I just wanted to be with my kids," she said in 2018. "I couldn't ... see anything more important than being there for them ... and to be there for my husband, too."
Benjamin and Vivan in 2020.
8. Green living is important to her.
These days, Bündchen is very outspoken about her desire for a cleaner planet. She teams up with organizations like earth Alliance and World Wildlife Fund ro raise awareness of the impacts of climate change. She also tries to live her values every day. “I do everything I can do," she told reporters in 2020. "We compost. We have a garden. Yes, I could probably live in a smaller house but we have solar panels. I tell my children it’s about the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. If you go into my closet, for example, you’re not going to believe it because I have, like, the jeans I wore three years ago.”
Her modeling career hasn't slowed down any either. She is now the face of Dior Capture Totale, an anti-aging line of skincare.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. She is the creator of the blog FeminXer and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.