Heidi Klum’s daughter Leni ‘knew right away’ she wanted to be a model

Heidi Klum’s daughter Leni has opened up on her early realisation she wanted to follow in her supermodel mother’s footsteps.

Leni Klum “knew right away” she wanted to be a model.

The 20-year-old daughter of former Victoria’s Secret star Heidi Klum has revealed how she instantly felt drawn to her mother’s line of work, although she’s grateful she wasn’t allowed to pursue it right away.

She told Glamour Germany magazine: “I was fascinated by everything on the set: the hair styling, the make-up – and how much fun my mother had during the shoot.

“I knew right away that I wanted that too. Sometimes I even jumped in front of the camera when no one was paying attention, or asked the stylists to put on my make-up when they were done with their official work.

“At 13, I finally wanted to start modeling myself, but my mother slowed me down. I was too young. Today I would say: She was right!”

However, the career path hasn’t always been smooth sailing, with Leni and Heidi facing backlash over their joint lingerie shoots over the years, including a series of steamy focus in ads for Italian lingerie brand Intimissimi in 2023.

Despite the vocal criticism from some fans, she has always tried to focus on the “positive reactions”.

She explained: “I always try to remind myself that no matter what you do, there will always be someone who doesn’t like it.

“You simply have no influence on it and must not concentrate too much on the negative. Especially if you spend a lot of time on social media, this can easily happen.

“But there are so many more positive reactions. Oh, and: Most of the comments are in German, and I don’t really understand many of them. Of course, that also helps!”

When Heidi shared the photos on her Instagram account at the time, she disabled comments after the criticism.

Her caption read: “If you see me and @leniklum on billboards all over Germany … tag us and we’ll share our favourites on our stories!”

However, the ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge’s post backfired and she made the decision to restrict comments after followers slammed the campaign as “embarrassing” and “weird”.