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Candice Swanepoel Responds to Body-Shamers: ‘Society Can Be So Cruel’

Candice Swanepoel bikini post-baby body shamers
Candice Swanepoel.Mike Coppola/Getty Images

So it turns out that Victoria’s Secret Angels aren’t immune to body shaming. Candice Swanepoel, who welcomed her second child in June, responded to hateful comments about her post-baby body. 

Related: Celebrity Moms Who Were Shamed for Their Baby Bumps

“This is me 12 days after having my son. If you have something bad to say about it,” the model, 29, wrote in an Instagram Story on Tuesday, July 11. The mom of two included two photos that were taken while she was in a bikini at the beach.

“Society can be so cruel to one another. Beauty standards are sometimes possible for women these days,” Swanepoel continued in her caption. “I’m not ashamed to show my postpartum tummy. I am proud actually. I carried my son for nine months in there. I think I’ve earned the right to have a little tummy.”

Candice Swanepoel bikini post-baby body shamers
Candice Swanepoel on the beach in Vitoria, Brazil on July 6, 2018. GADE/BACKGRID

Related: The Best Celebrity Beach Bodies of 2018

She signed off with an important message: Just because you’re a Sports Illustrated swimsuit star doesn’t mean baby weight just falls off. “Is it because I’m a model?” she asked in the post. “Well we were normal people too so let me enjoy the beach in peace please.”

The South Africa native and her fiancé, Hermann Nicoli, are parents of boys Anaca, 21 months, and Ariel. She announced the birth of Ariel on June 19 via Instagram. 

Related: Celebrity Engagement Rings by Carat Size

Swanepoel opened up in 2017 about how motherhood has changed her and revealed she can no longer watch films in which kids are in danger. “The last two movies I watched were Lion and Mama, with Penelope Cruz, and I mean, just bawling on the couch,” she told Australian Vogue. “Oh, God, they are both so beautiful but you just won’t get through it.” 

Swanepoel and Brazilian model Nicoli, 36, got engaged in 2015. They first met when she was 17 years old.

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