Candice Swanepoel covers the March issue of Self magazine. She’s not very exciting, gosspwise, but this is a very cool cover feature. No controversy or anything, but I always get excited when models take an athletic stance (like Gisele Bundchen’s Underarmour commercial). Candice looks so strong on this cover. She does talk about how her early career was met with criticism because she weighed too much. That’s the case for so many models, but I think she’s referring to muscle bulk. Here are some excerpts:
On being told to lose weight for her career: “I was so used to people criticizing me for being too thin that it was shocking to me.”
Her big break: “My agent said: ‘They want to see you. If you get the show, will you move to New York?’ I said: ‘If I got Victoria’s Secret, I’d do anything.'”
She’s an athlete: “I’m an athlete. I use every single muscle, especially my core and arms, when I pose. It’s so important for me to feel strong. When I have a show or a specific shoot coming up, I train for it full on, like an athlete would train for a game.”
Modelling is different now: “It used to be that if you had a swim shoot, you’d go away for two weeks and spend the first four days getting a suntan,’ she said. ‘Now we work 12 hours a day, every day, and I can be on a plane every two days. It’s almost like a chess game, where we’re the pieces.”
Her work ethic started early: “Africa is not for wussies. It’s in our culture to be hard workers.”
[From Self]
The modelling industry really is different now, especially for VS models. They’re a lot less curvy than they used to be, and there’s been plenty of criticism for that change. These girls also do a lot more events than back in the old days. It used to be a gig that mostly involved catalogue shoots, but now VS girls do more apperances and runway show blowouts for television. Candice is a good role example of a model who can be sexy and very atletic too.
Here’s Candice modelling the upcoming Apple watch. She’s the first woman to wear one on a magazine cover. Self made a big deal out of that fact.
Photos courtesy of Sebastian Kim/Self & WENN
I’ve never heard of this lady, but she is beautiful. I wish I could pull off that short hair.
Just because you use a muscle, does not an athlete make.
This.
Huge side-eye from me.
Come on. She’s posing with a volleyball, she’s definitely an athlete.
Applause
LOL, mimif.
Agreed. I don’t think it takes the same endurance to pose that it takes to run or cycle or even do yoga.
I think she was an athlete or a ballerina before modelling that’s why she’s saying this. Her body is amazing.
I don’t think this accurately reflected what she can do.
She is quite the athlete when you know about her workouts. She does a lot of ballet and she can do pointe for example. She does many different disciplines too like yoga and kickboxing (although Adriana Lima is the boss bitch of kickboxing). Of course she’s not a real professional athlete but she does train like one and their work ethic allows for them to be more athletically capable than people give them credit for.
I think a lot of VS Angels train like athletes because of the sheer work it takes to keep their body ‘perfect’. They train for hours to achieve the bodies they have unlike models from the 90s who could never maintain that type of lifestyle due to their partying. Their bodies were soft in comparison to the muscle tone of models now.
That is great that she can do pointe! I can’t imagine she’d do it very frequently, though, because that can make your toes look pretty rough. 😉
I have been longing to get into a dance/workout class for some time now (trying to figure out a place with the right style/location/price). It is kind of silly how much I latched on to Artemis’s comment about ballet, pointe, kickboxing, yoga….I want to do them all!!!
@Tiffany
Just go on Youtube and type in whatever you want. I downloaded many DVDs. Mary Helen Bower’s ballet workout is on there (unless it’s removed). I love Tae Bo (Billy Blanks) and other kickboxing videos. They even have Cher and Jane Fonda’s old DVDs! Really, check it out.
The best ones are the fusion workouts where they mix Pilates, Yoga and Kickboxing. It’s a killer!
Unless you want to go to a class for motivation, then forget what I just wrote 🙂
Thanks for the recommendations, Artemis! I definitely am interested. I live in an apartment building though, so I am wondering if I can get away with working out in my living room without pissing off the neighbors below. Hmmm….there has to be a way to make it work!
@Tiffany: If you really want to do ballet, then I would recommend a good teacher though, because even if you’re not doing pointe (which nobody should ever do without a teacher and years of intense training beforehand) you can injure yourself if you don’t move correctly. Just an example: people often “force” the outward position and stand mostly on the inner part of their feet. When you do a plié in such a position, your can get a luxating patella.
I didn’t say that she was or wasn’t an athlete. I simply said that she was beautiful.
Awww, c’mon, wiffie. Really? SMH
“It’s almost like a chess game, where we’re the pieces.”
That sounds…awful.
And she says it so seemingly cheerfully. The dissonance was jarring to me. Modeling is a crazy business, for sure.
“Where we’re the pawns.” There, I fixed it for her.
Exactly, esmom, she seemed so cavalier about something that actually sounds quite terrifying.
She’s got millions in the bank and a house in Brazil where she goes “every couple of weeks” to “find herself again”. I don’t think we need to worry about her too much. She can walk away anytime, that’s why she’s so cavalier about it.
Her boyfriend of 8 years is from Brazil.
Candice’s body is just insane and she is a great model. One of today’s supermodels, I’d actually say. I’m more into the high fashion type usually, but CS is fab.
How is her waist that small? How is it even possible?!
Yes it’s possible. She has what is scientifically termed a curvy/hourglass figure. Shoulders and hips of equal length with a small defined waist.
Most people don’t think that a tall/skinny person can also be an hourglass because it’s body types aren’t taught in biology class in schools anymore, and the media has co-opted the hourglass/curvy phrase to mean fat/big boobs and butt whilst also saying that short bigger women are the only types to have this type of figure.
Sorry for the lecture, but this is a personal buggaboo for me.
It’s easy enough to google body types to know that it’s perfectly possible for Candice here to have this small waist, as indeed does Nigella Lawson who is a lot bigger.
@LAK, you are correct. I just meant what are the odds to look like that (face and body) more so than saying it wasn’t scientifically possible . I guess because she is so lean her proportions are very pronounced. I’m just kind of in awe!
I think she is so gorgeous! How she got that amazing shape AND that face in the looks lottery is just beyond me. Her body is really amazing to look at.
Yes…she is special.
“Africa is not for wussies, it’s in our culture to be hard workers”??? That is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard, even coming out of the mouth of a model. What you do is not “hard work” honey, EVER.
She’s right Africa is not for wussies and we are very hard workers. I lived in America and Europe. I’ve seen the difference
You lived where in Europe? And where in America? And where in Africa?
Europe is not one huge country, the difference between Southern and Norther Europe, for an example is huge. Same for Africa, same for America
Maybe Lilian means in contrast?
I’ve noticed this more in the states than in Europe, but many people (and Palin) believe Africa to be a country. Like the United States. Only Africa is made up of states instead of countries.
@spooky I’m from South Africa. So yes I do realise that Africa is a continent. If you read my comment close before attacking, you would have realized I said “we are very hard workers”. Thank you for self righteously pointing it out. In Europe i lived in the Netherlands for a year and I lived in Germany for a month. In America I lived in Chicago for 4 months and Boston for a year. I’m back home now.
FLORC is right, I did mean in contrast which I thought was quiet obvious. Obviously I was wrong. Maybe next time before to explain the differences between continents and countries to people, you will find out the differences in the people that come from those continents and countries because that was the argument.
Please explain to me why you see soo angry? You anger is unwarranted and uncalled for.
Did I sound angry? I’m so sorry, that wasn’t my intention at all.
English is my 3rd language so maybe something got lost in translation. What I meant was that you can’t describe a whole continent with the same word. Maybe people in South Africa are more hardworking than people in, I don’t know, England, but maybe people in Poland are more hardworking than people in Algeria or something like that. That is what I meant. Unless you lived in every country in Europe and in every country in Africa, you can’t compare.
Ugh…for real @spooky? English is your THIRD language? *hanging head in shame*
Ok, it’s not like construction work or anything, but I do think they put in long hours and travel a lot, and…trails off…
And it’s in my nature to be a hard worker. *shrugs*
Sorry, but you’ve no idea about the model business. Of course Candice is now in a very good position careerwise, earns tons of money and can possibly retire if she wants to.
But if you think that being a model nowadays is just standing around looking pretty, then you are wrong. These girls start from a very young age and most of them have to leave home to get into a city where they can be booked. They often live together in a shared apartment with other underage girls and hardly any guidance from their agency. And they stand under a lot of pressure. A lot of very young models are from poor areas in Russia and Belarus and haven’t seen much of the world before they got a model contract. But suddenly they are thrown into this crazy world, running from casting to casting, being rejected by a lot of people based on their looks alone because they’re often treated like dehumanized puppets. If they are lucky enough they get booked for a lot of jobs, which is necessary to keep the agency happy so they don’t send them home again (pretty much without a penny because new models hardly earn anything as the agency keeps most of the earnings for their initial expenses like test shoots, sedcards etc.). Having a lot of jobs however, involves running from show to show during fashion week with little sleep and questionable food at backstage buffets – if you are lucky enough to have time to eat. And for that quite a few designers just give you clothes instead of money if you walk on their runways. Or you get booked for shootings around the world, which means a lot of flying, jet lag, different climates, dry skin, sleeping problems and the rest. Long distance flights are no bed of roses, especially not if you’re supposed to look fresh and pretty afterwards.
A lot of young girls still endure this because after a time they earn good money, especially compared to their prospects home. Some models even send a lot of money home to help their families, so there’s huge pressure on them. So there’s stress, lonlieness because you’re far away from your parents and not long enough in one place to form real friendships and the usual problems of the fashion industrie like drugs and pervs who want to take advantage of young, unexperienced pretty girls.
And as the models get older they sometimes have big problems to keep the body the industry demands which means working out a lot if you don’t do anything very unhealthy. Take someone like Candice for example, which had probably an easier start than a lot of other girls because she was with a respectable agency and came from a secure background, but she definitely has to spend many many hours training. I wouldn’t call that “not a hard worker”.
There’s a lot of physical and psychological pressure and quite often not even a trade union with legal advice if they encounter problems like shady photographers and agencies, who don’t pay them their money, or your “model apartment” is a bug infested hellhole. And if you say something you’re out of a job because there are 100 new young girls who want to live the “dream” – which is a problem if you haven’t finished a school because you were a working model since the age of 14.
Personally, I don’t want to change with any not-yet-established model in the world because it IS hard. Very much so.
Why do many people question her words when she says she’s an athlete? she definitely looks like one. Check out Kayla Itsines, she looks nothing but thin and toned and can do 50 burpees in a row
Because of unshopped pics like this http://photos.posh24.com/p/1158608/l/candice_swanepoel/the_big_candice_swanepoel_skinny_drama.jpg . She’s the skeleton in the center. And fine, maybe she works out more now, but does working out define you as an athlete? She’s saying her job is athletic. Modeling. Think about what you’re defending.
Exactly I wanted to know what muscles. The girl in the video is v toned but I can’t see that with CS. I think if you blink most of the VS models look the same to me. We went to the show here and my husband was saying who ARE these women, they need some meat on their bones.
She has gain weight since then. Her body is insane imo http://magazine.foxnews.com/celebrity/candice-swanepoel-getting-really-risque-instagram-does-nearly-nude-ballet
I wonder if after she was told she was too big, she went too far in the other direction and has found a happy medium? Because that girl in the middle there is NOT the girl on the cover now. Unless they’re now just having women be as thin as possible and shopping them to look healthy. Which would be sad but oddly not shocking.
joy
Maybe. After that photo came out and the backlash hit CS had to gain weight. VS was taking a lot of heat over it. CS made a few statements that she eats all the time and just at a steak or eats desserts behind the curtain at fashion shows, but it wasn’t good enough. It’s thought VS told her to gain or leave.
She still smokes cigs or rather ecigs now.
I was just thinking about this photo. She’s gained weight since and seems to be focusing on being strong instead of skinny. I follow her on Instagram and her body is amazing.
I can do 50 burpees in a row–that doesn’t make me an athlete.
Kayla Itsines is really fit, but she’s not an athlete.
Athleticism isn’t defined by being toned, it actually requires a skillset that not everybody possesses.
CS is a beautiful woman who poses for pictures, end of. She should embrace that, without trying to sell herself as something that she’s not. She just comes across as another model trying to make it seem like her profession is something more dimensional.
50 burpees? Holy sh-t girl, good on you. I workout on the reg but get dizzy by 20 (prob the alcohol recirculating through my system). Actually, I’m never doing another burpee again.
Also, if Beast Mode bounces out of Seattle, I might have to move to Oakland.
The BF and I were just recently talking about how burpees are a thing now. The burpee is his most-hated exercise. I like them because I’m good at them. Yay.
Did you see the Conan segments with Lynch and Gronk?
Marshawn Lynch is so funny in those. The outtakes are great also. But yeah, that would be a huge loss for your boys.
Kitten
Exactly.
And do you hit chest to deck and lift arms in your burpee or more of a classic pushup burpee?
I’m athletic… I work out and run every day. I train for marathons. But even though I run marathons, I don’t think of myself as an athlete. But that’s just me.
Para
Athletes go through training to improve required skills for competition. Without competition and chasing a goal it’s more of a hobby.
To my understanding that’s the difference between athlete and athletic.
CS exercises to be athletic. To be fit. Her body is her paycheck. She’s not training to compete with others.
@Kitten, Marshawn & Gronk on Conan were the best gd thing about the Superbowl, if you ask me. I’ve watched it at least 17 hundred thousand times.
Now, drop and give me 25 one legged burpees. 😉
But there are hobby athletes, right? So why not. Anybody who can run a marathon is a hobby athlete in my book.
Although I side-eye her for saying that she’s an athlete during posing – not really. Posing is not exactly a wonderful thing because you have to hold awkward and unnatural positions for the time the photographer needs to take his pictures while pretending to not be strained at all. After a time your muscles burn and your joints ache, but your smile has to appear natural, fresh and pretty. BUT while this might be a pain in the a** it’s not a high-performance sport.
She is so beautiful that looks unreal. Green with envy!! 🙂
She is incredibly beautiful.
Talk about winning the genetic lottery. Gorgeous.
Wasn’t she criticised for a picture she posted e of her concave stomach?
She has a great figure, and a cute face, but I don’t find her stunning and like Doutzen, she lacks charisma.
Behati is still my favourite VS model.
Right. She was told she was too thin when there was a public outrage at her nearly skeletal frame between 2 already thin models. She still did the shoot too so i’m thinking there was no criticism on her being “too thin” until the photos got released.
And you don’t get that thin by being healthy.
And I did follow her on twitter because I heard “thigh gap” was a regular phrase and something to achieve. And it still is. As an athlete my inner thighs being apart from eachother is not a priority.
I love Candice, perfect for Victoria Secrets. I disagree in the “VS models were more curvy then” thing, not true. They always used regular models, especially for the runway show. Natasha Poly, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmermann Abbey Lee Kershaw used to walk for VS back then, high fashion super thin models. Today they have Karlie Kloss and Behati there are Milan skinny, but still have Adriana and many girls who would never be thin enough to walk a show in Paris.
VS models were more curvy during the late 1990s-early 2000s. I think that was the time period Bedhead was referring to. Examples of past VS curvy models include: Tyra Banks, Eva Herzigova (who has lost a lot of weight since), Helena Christensen, Laetitia Casta, Frederique van der Wal, Yasmeen Ghauri, and Daniela Pestova, Their bodies were allowed to have a little more meat on them, like Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. For at least the past decade, the trend for VS has been to hire more of the skinnier body types common to high fashion runway shows.
Candice is being a bit disingenuous here. I’m sure she appreciates the strength and flexibility she gets from working out, but that’s not the main reason she exercises. She’s doing it to burn off natural body fat and remain skinny, so she can fit into the tiny sample sized clothes and lingerie. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be hired. It’s the same reason many models smoke: they don’t gain much weight because cigarettes are an appetite suppressant. This is all about appearance, with less concern about maintaining physical health. Looking “athletic” is not the same as being an athlete, Candice.
All these models (Karlie Kloss is another who comes to mind) work out to fit into the rigid size 0-2 that most designers require. Size 4 used to be the standard among most top models, but, sadly, many of the top working models now are a size 2. Karlie is a size 0! I remember a few years ago when Doutzen was criticized for gaining weight (she actually looked healthy). Because of the pressure, she exercised to the point that she lost her curves and looked very sinewy, a frequent look at VS’s holiday fashion show. I mean, the industry doesn’t want a model’s hip measurement to exceed 35 inches. SMDH.
Tyra Banks was the only curvy, but she’s Tyra Banks. Gisele was always there and always super skinny.
No, it wasn’t just Tyra. Laetitia and Helena were also curvy at the height of their modeling days. I was very aware of fashion and swimsuit models since the 1980s. Victoria Secret has been around since 1977. They published many catalogs and their big fashion show didn’t start until 1995. Gisele worked for VS starting in 1999, so she wasn’t “always there”. You’re playing loose with the facts.
Models have always been thin, but the trend of using really skinny models (size 0-2) at VS began approximately 10-12 years ago. Those models you mentioned (Natasha, Raquel, Caroline, Abby Lee) started working for VS around that time. You are covering a small period of time. Your examples only go back to the mid 2000s, but VS has been around for nearly 40 years. Do some research and you’ll realize that VS used more curvy bodies for its first 25 years.
She is a gorgeous, physically fit woman (obviously) and I’m sure that she “prepares” for her shoots as any pro would do. But if she’s going to call herself an “athlete” I would naturally assume that she plays sports or runs marathons. An athlete is someone who participates in sports related competitions. I even hesitate to call a NASCAR driver an athlete but they do. (And being involved in that industry and seeing what they go through first hand you could probably call them athletes). I even take issue at yoga participants/instructors calling themselves “athletes” since they aren’t in a competition. But whatever floats your boat honey. Semantics.
I think she’s so beautiful and I love her body. She is really fit and really thin. I think it’s likely that any muscles that appear too prominently are edited out; even women’s fitness (fitness!) magazines edit out women’s muscles if they dare to be too prominent.
Oh, to be young, lean and fit. She is very pretty, she is talking about lean muscles I hope.
Um, she’s pretty and poses nicely. That’s all I have.
I wouldn’t exactly say she’s a good role model. She has doll-like proportions that would be completely unachievable for 99,9% of women regardless of how “sexy” or “athletic” they were. If she hadn’t agreed to lose the weight she was told to and made a point of that, maybe.
She is not saying she is an athlete because she poses, she is saying she is an athlete because she has to pose using her arms so she needs to be strong. Read well people.
“When I have a show or special shoot coming up I train full on, like an athlete would train for a game.” That sounds to me like she is claiming that her job is in essence that of an athlete. Which it isn’t.
On the other hand, I can see where being fit rather than a weakling could be an asset as a model. Watching ANTM is a guilty pleasure of mine, and sometimes girls complain about getting tired because certain poses are physically demanding or because the photo shoots are long. But being fit and being an athlete are not the same…
So, are you saying she is an athlete because she needs to appear athletic? That’s at best doing bare minimum to appear to be an athlete. The other parts of that are cardio, respiratory, muscles, hydration nutrition, etc……….
I don’t understand your comment unless it’s nitpicking. No ill intent. Just confused as to your point.
I read somewhere that Candace used to be a fitness model, not sure if that’s true. I dont quite feel body envy, but of all of the VS models, at least she looks fit and not like skeletor as I think Alessandra Ambrioso does. When I was a kid I used to look through magazines and catalogs wishing I looked like the unrealistically thin women featured in them, so even though she’s thin, the fact that Candace actually has muscle tone gets kudos from me.
Athletes compete. Therefore, she is not an athlete. It really is that simple. By her logic, I am a model because when I compete, photographs and videos are being taken of me. It is nice that she exercises, it is great that she works hard and trains and uses her muscles. but based on her definition of an athlete, anybody who goes home after a hard day at work is an athlete, somehow. Trust me, I really used my muscles when I had that job lifting furniture. Today, I am a professional-amateur athlete and an undefeated boxing champion. I am a hungry lion and I am going to make boxing history. so, in conclusion, I’m not trying to bash her, or her work, but she is not an athlete.
I’m sorry, but…I just can’t with this. Hard work?? The 12 hr days where you sit around and have your hair done and your make up done, your clothes picked out for you, a car to pick you up and take you to the airport, an agency to book your tickets and then your actual work is to stand in front of a camera and blow kissy faces at it – THAT’S the hard work we’re talking about here? Yes, I agree that the MAKE UP ARTISTS and HAIR STYLISTS and AGENTS work very hard. Standing where you’re told to stand and smile or pout on command is not hard WORK.
I wrote a long post above where I explain a bit about the fashion industry. This fantasy of a nice day getting your hair done and posing a bit for pics while being paid a fortune is one of the reasons why millions of young girls dream about being a model and throw themselves in this rather unhealthy industry.
Being a model, especially not a high-paid super established topmodel like Candice, is not exactly a dream job.
Exactly, Kelly. Cindy Crawford once said that during boring photoshoots she would think about how much money she was making for the job. To me, it implied that she modelled on autopilot if the work wasn’t stimulating enough. It also means that, in addition to not being physically demanding, modelling is not mentally demanding, either.
Now here is a proper curvy figure. In the scientific sense and not the BS media sense where ‘curvy’ is short term for fat or boobs/butt.
She’s not the 1st model to pose on a cover of a magazine wearing an Apple watch. It was Liu Wen, on the cover of Vogue China’s November 2014, who first wore the watch on a cover and its accompanying editorial. But if we’re talking about who wore it first for an English publication, then Candice is.
Uh, does anyone remember when she was scary skinny? As for the Africa comment, it’s not like she was born on the plains. Privilege through and through.
Yes, I remember her scary skinny – perhaps she was training for her other career … Olympian?
Hahahahahhahahaha, that quote!!!! Ahahahahhaahhahahahaahahha
Oh honey….
Sure you are…
I thought she simply meant that she’s an athletic person (which I think anyone who exercises a lot could fairly describe themselves as), and that helps in a profession like modelling where you have to pose (and take off your clothes — she didn’t say that part, but that’s how people see your muscles). Hugh Jackman isn’t an athlete in the traditional sense, but he probably has to do the kind of exercise training necessary to making his body look good when his shirt is off (ditto for soap opera stars, Joe Mangiello, etc). I really didn’t think she was trying to compare herself to an athlete at the Olympic gold medalist level, and my mind didn’t go there at all as to what she was trying to claim. But I suppose I’m apt to think there’s no way she could be that dumb.
Maybe she diets a lot too, which could dissuade someone from thinking she’s truly athletic, but I don’t think that’s really unusual among athletic people either (i.e I would count a ballet dancer or a figure skater as quite athletic).
Her face looks like an amalgamation of several different celebrities.
I think she looks a lot healthier than she used to look. I remember her looking deathly thin at one point. So if athleticism has helped her get healthy and feel better about herself, then good for her.