All the Models Who Walked the Victoria’s Secret Runway While Pregnant
Every year, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show puts millions in awe. The women who walk the runway seem to defy nature, with rock-hard abs, miles-long legs, and wavy locks that look like they’ve been touched by a (literal) angel. But walking the Victoria’s Secret runway — and retaining that perfect physique — while pregnant? It seems impossible, but multiple women have managed it.
Of course, pregnancy is a beautiful thing — and gives you a glow that not even hours in a makeup chair can replicate. But retaining those rock-hard abs while you’re carrying a child? It’s practically superhuman.
Here’s the elite club of women who’ve walked the Victoria’s Secret runway — mere months before giving birth.
Alessandra Ambrosio, 2011
Ambrosio has two children, but it was during her second pregnancy, in late 2011, that she walked the Victoria’s Secret runway in N.Y.C. She was two months pregnant at the time, and nearly backed out of the show due to her worries about fitting into the itty-bitty outfits. “When I first found out I was pregnant I thought, ‘Oh my gosh I don’t think I’m going to be able to walk on the show,'” she said. Ambrosio ended up keeping her pregnancy a secret from the show-runners. She ended up cutting out sugar and sweets in the days before the show, as well as training intensely.
The worries persisted: “A week before, I told my booker I don’t think I’m going to be able to fit into the clothes because I gained a few pounds already, but we were just quiet,” she said. Turns out, she had nothing to worry about: Ambrosio sizzled on the runway that year, just as she always does.
Lily Aldridge, 2011
Was 2011 the year of the pregnant Victoria’s Secret model? Seems so. In addition to Ambrosio, Taylor Swift squad member and VS veteran Lily Aldridge was pregnant during the 2011 show. Aldridge and husband Caleb Followill (of Kings of Leon) confirmed the pregnancy a month after the show, in December 2012. “We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child together,” they told PEOPLE. “We can’t wait to meet the new addition to our family.”
And just like Ambrosio, she looked practically perfect walking down the runway.
Doutzen Kroes, 2013
Two years later, Kroes joined the pregnant Victoria’s Secret model club. She confirmed her second pregnancy on February 6, 2014, four months after the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. On March 21, she shared a snap on Instagram that she was “almost 6 months pregnant with a girl,” meaning she would have been newly pregnant — and certainly, not showing at all — for the November 2013 show. After giving birth that July, she was back on the runway later that year in November.
Irina Shayk, 2016
The latest model to walk the runway while expecting is Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show newcomer Shayk, a Russian model who is dating none other than Hollywood hottie Bradley Cooper. Though she’s the fourth VS model to walk the runway while expecting, she did hit a new milestone: Walking during her second trimester — and with her baby bump on display! That’s a sure-fire way to make a splash at your first-ever VS show.
