I came into this Anne Vyalitsyna (“Anne V”) interview thinking that she was going to sound vapid and full of herself, but I came out of it really liking her. I mean, she’s not a brain surgeon or anything, but she seems down to earth and realistic about her industry, and she’s really not asking for anyone’s pity. I also didn’t know that she had become an American citizen, which is always exciting. I love a good naturalization story (truly, I love them). Anne is promoting her new gig as host and mentor on The Face, where she works alongside Naomi Campbell. And Anne still hasn’t gotten a face full of phone, so that should show you that she’s pretty resilient! You can read the full Ocean Drive piece here, and here are some highlights:

Growing up in Russia: “I come from a very normal family—both of my parents are doctors. But in Russia, doctors and teachers are the lowest-paid professions. So we never traveled; we didn’t have much money. But I always wanted to be a model. It was one of those dreams I never thought would come true. Every kid has an unrealistic goal like, “I’m going to be an astronaut,” but no one becomes one. I know it sounds so clichéd, but I never thought I was pretty. I was the tallest in my class and very skinny, and no boys liked me.”

Leaving Russia: “Russia is amazing during the summer. It’s warm and green, with so many fields and rivers. It’s stunning. But Russia during the winter is the most depressing place ever. Now I’m living an American dream. I just became an American citizen, and I feel like America is my home now.”

Downsides to modeling: “For the young girls, it’s an industry that makes you not very confident. You’ll hear things like, “Not pretty enough.” “Too fat.” “Too skinny.” “Your nose is too big.” I learned how to deal with it, but I’m 27 years old and I know how hard it was when I was 18 years old to deal with those things. I was a child.”

Now she knows she’s pretty: “I’ve been modeling for 12 years and I can do it with my eyes closed. I know I’m pretty. But there are a lot of things that I don’t like about myself. I wish I wasn’t this white. I never get tan. I wish I could eat everything and not put on weight. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have freckles.”

Dating in the spotlight: “Honestly, it sucks, but it is what it is. People don’t really realize that at the end of the day we all want to be loved. We all want to have normal families and relationships and kids. No one wants to get divorced and have someone create stupid dramas and articles about your relationship.”

Body image issues: “When I was 18, I put on a lot of weight because I was eating pizza and pasta, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I never ate salads in Russia; we didn’t have salads. The only salads we had were with tons of mayo in them. It was really hard, and I’ve battled with it for many years.”

Working with Naomi Campbell: “She’s awesome. It was quite an experience, because she is one of my idols. We would fight a lot, but we were all one big, happy family. I was mentoring girls, but in a way I was getting mentored by Naomi, too.”

Charity work: “I work with the charity called Red, which deals with mothers transferring HIV to their babies, and we went to Zambia in June—and really for the first time in my life, I realized that even though I’m not technically saving lives or donating millions of dollars and I’m not a doctor or a teacher, I have this opportunity that people see my face and know who I am. I have this opportunity to help, in this case my charity. When you come to this realization that you can use your success and fame to do something in the world, I think that’s a really fantastic thing.”

[From Ocean Drive]

I think my favorite part is “I never ate salads in Russia; we didn’t have salads.” And “I wish I could eat everything and not put on weight.” As opposed to all of the models who claim they eat everything and we know they’re made of lies. Anne makes it sound like she does have to work at it (even though she could “model with her eyes closed”) and that she still struggles with her body image even though she knows – intellectually – that she’s pretty. I don’t know, you guys. I think I kind of like her…? Plus, she’s not with douchey Adam Levine anymore. Bonus points for that one.

Photos courtesy of Ocean Drive.