Chrissy Teigen reveals she was paid just £140 a show in early modelling days: ‘C-class Naomi Campbell coming through’
'It was basically my equivalent of walking Paris couture,' said model
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Chrissy Teigen has opened up about her unglamourous modelling past, revealing she received just $200 (£146) per show when she worked Miami Fashion Week in 2010.
Describing herself as a "C-class Naomi Campbell", Teigen told her fans that she would spend five to six hours sitting on the floor waiting to go on stage and shared a room with five other girls.
In a post to her Instagram, Teigen, who was 24 at the time, revealed that most of her pay packet was swallowed up by agency fees.
She wrote: "Was talking about my days of Miami fashion week and how it was basically my equivalent of walking Paris couture.
"200 bucks a show minus agency and I’d wait 5/6 hours sitting on the floor of the Mondrian [hotel] to be seen.
"Booking a show at the Setai [hotel], walking over the pool, oh my god the excitement, C-class Naomi Campbell coming throughhhhhh!!!!!!"
The 35-year-old shared a number of pictures of herself modelling swimwear at the event in 2010, the same year that she first appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine.
She continued: "Dinner with randos at Prime 112, ordering enough food to take home to eat for the week cause the fashion show money would disappear with agency fees.
"Sleeping in a two bedroom at the Flamingo with 5 other girls, MEMORIES!"
Teigen had met her husband John Legend four years prior in 2006, while starring as his love interest in his music video for Stereo, when the pair were 20 and 28 respectively.
The star told Wendy Williams in 2014 that she and John hooked up that night after being on set together for 12 hours.
She said: "We spent the entire day together, me in my underwear and him in a full suit, and I went to go say goodbye to him, to his hotel and we didn't ever say goodbye that night."
In the early days of the pair’s relationship, Legend tried to break things off with Teigen during a stressful period of one of his tours.
"Early on in the relationship, I was on tour with him and he'd gotten sick," Teigen told Cosmopolitan in 2016. "He was feeling really bummed and stressed out. He was like, 'I can't be in a relationship right now.'"
"That lasted for one day. Literally, a day," she continued. "I knew it came from a place other than us not working."
The couple have now been married for eight years and have two children together, Luna, four, and Miles, two.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments