'I was terrified': Tom Brady's ex-wife Gisele Bündchen exposed dark truth behind her breakthrough catwalk moment

Time of India

8 hours ago

Gisele Bündchen's career almost ended before it began (Getty Images)
Long before Gisele Bündchen became one of the world's highest-paid models and the partner of NFL icon Tom Brady, she almost walked away from the very show that launched her career.
In 1998, at just 18 years old, Bündchen was cast in Alexander McQueen's London runway. What should have been her big break quickly spiraled into panic when she learned she would have to walk topless, wearing only a fishtail skirt.
A backstage rescue that saved Gisele Bündchen's career
The Brazilian model later admitted that fear nearly drove her out of the building. "I was a good girl," she recalled. "I was a tomboy. I was someone whose big breasts has embarrassed her since she'd hit puberty.
I was a girl gripped by the fear that my family would feel so embarrassed they would never speak to me again. I was terrified."
Her breakdown could have ended the opportunity altogether, but then came the intervention of Val, a make-up artist with a sharp eye and compassion. Instead of forcing her into a situation she dreaded, Val improvised by painting a white 'top' onto Bündchen's body.
"As soon as Val, the make-up artist, saw the situation, she said she would paint a top on me using white make-up.
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Val told me how beautiful it looked and said that the runway was so dark that nobody would know. If Val hadn't shown up then, I seriously doubt that I could have walked the runway."
That simple act didn't just cover her modesty — it allowed Bündchen to step onto the catwalk, completing the show that turned into the first chapter of her international career.
From runway panic to building a life with Tom Brady
Looking back, the moment feels like a metaphor for the rest of Bündchen's journey.
When fear or criticism loomed, she often found strength through people who believed in her. Years later, that same theme would play out in her marriage to Tom Brady.
While their relationship has since ended, Brady was often seen as her grounding force at the height of her modeling superstardom. Fans dubbed him her 'angel' — the steady presence who provided stability when the spotlight grew overwhelming. Their bond, like Val's intervention years earlier, reflected the importance of having someone to lean on when public pressure mounts.
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The McQueen story may be decades old, but its lesson endures: in fashion, football, or life itself, even the most iconic careers are rarely built alone. Sometimes it takes an angel — whether in the form of a makeup artist with a paintbrush or a partner on the sidelines — to help someone step into their destiny.
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