So it’s not just divine intervention!
Before the Angels winged up at the 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in London on Tuesday, Dec. 2, they had to gear up—both physically and mentally. Us Weekly spoke to longtime Angel Adriana Lima, who’s hanging up her wings after this season, about how she gets into in shape (after two children) ahead of the catwalk.
“Since we are filming a television special that is going to air in over 181 countries—we’re not wearing that much, there’s a lot of skin—you have to pay more attention to your body. So yes, there is a little bit of extra working out involved,” Lima told Us.
The Brazilian model explained that she starts hitting the gym hardcore about a month and a half before. “I love to work out, but I won’t hit the gym like every day [like I do to prep for the show]!” she confessed.
It certainly pays off! One of the most memorable body moments in the history of the VS Fashion Show was in 2009, when Lima walked just seven weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Valentina, now 5, But getting into tip-top shape in no small task.
“My body has changed a lot since I gave birth—it happens,” Lima said. “I work out and I look after myself. I take this seriously because it’s my job.” But most of all she does it to boost her confidence, saying, “I want to feel comfortable!”
And she certainly looked at ease, strutting her stuff in one of the $2 million Fantasy Bras (alongside Alessandra Ambrosio) later that evening. Where does she get that kind of confidence from? Having children (she also has daughter Sienna, 2), she says, helps with that, too.
“After you have kids, you realize the real values in life,” Lima, who models in Victoria’s Secret’s sports bras because she loves to kick box, said. “Today’s women are so independent, with their own jobs, able to stand up for themselves, that gives me a lot of confidence also. How you feel inside, the inner beauty, that [affects] the way you act onstage.”
One of Victoria’s Secret’s top Angels, Candice Swanepoel, joined Lima on the carpet later, and she confirmed that it’s an all-year-round kind of feeling, because she always has to be ready to model in barely-there-wear.
“The type of modeling you do when you’re doing lingerie, doing swim, it’s different than regular modeling,” the South African model said. “You have to be in control of every muscle, every part of yourself, because nothing is hidden by clothes”
Still, it pays to have fabulous genes, because Swanepoel, 26, doesn’t need to get into high-gear until much closer to the big day. “A couple of weeks before the show I go big on my Pilates and boxing, totally looking after myself,” she said. Oh, to be an Angel!
