Heidi Klum reveals she was pregnant with daughter Leni during Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2003

Heidi Klum has revealed she was four months pregnant with her daughter Leni when she walked the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2003.

On Tuesday, the supermodel celebrated Leni’s 17th birthday by sharing a throwback video of herself walking the runway at the lingerie show, during which she can be seen wearing the ”Very Sexy” Fantasy Bra.

“Happy 17th birthday LENI,” the 47-year-old captioned the birthday post to her eldest daughter. “I am not alone walking down that catwalk here. If I look close enough then I can see you bumping right along at four months.”

In the caption, Klum then expressed her love for her oldest child, adding: “I loved you before you were born, and I will love you long after I close my eyes forever.”

The mother-of-four, who also has sons Henry, 15, Johan, 14, and daughter Lou, 11, gave birth to Leni, who she shares with Flavio Briatore, in 2004. The 17-year-old was later adopted by Klum’s ex-husband Seal, who the supermodel was married to from 2005 to 2014.

In December of last year, Klum revealed that her daughter had expressed interest in following in her footsteps, with the former Victoria’s Secret model revealing in an interview with People at the time that she had previously declined offers for her daughter to model, but now felt that she was old enough.

“She’s old enough now,” Klum said. “I always thought she was too young. We always also decided to keep the children out of the public eye. But she’s driving a car now, she’s 16, so I figured if you can do that, you can also model now if this is what you wish to do.”

However, although Klum was supportive of her daughter’s ambitions, she also acknowledged that the modelling industry could be tough, adding: “The industry is great and I love it and I’ve been in it for over 20 years but it’s also, it’s a lot of traveling, it’s different. 

“You have to be a strong person, especially as a woman, you have to be very strong.”

Later that same month, Leni made her modelling debut on the cover of Vogue Germany’s January/February 2021 issue alongside her mother, before walking the runway at Berlin Fashion Week in January.

Most recently, the 17-year-old has featured on the cover of Glamour Germany, two decades after her mother became the magazine’s first cover star in 2001, according to People.

Of her daughter’s accomplishments, Klum said Leni has been “doing fantastic” and that it’s been “amazing to watch her do it all”.

“It’s mind-blowing to me to watch her work, especially the first thing I did together with her and now she’s doing things by herself, even though I go to the set,” Klum told People.