WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
Gisele Bundchen opened up about the overwhelming stress she faced during her modeling career, which at one point led her to fantasize about “jumping out the window.”
The Brazilian-born beauty, 43, who recently revealed she was “just surviving” before divorcing Tom Brady, opened up about the emotional subject in a clip from her upcoming interview with Lee Cowan for CBS News Sunday morning.
The mother of two began her professional modeling career at New York Fashion Week in 1996, when she was just 16 years old.
However, Bundchen expressed the hardships she faced in the past while working in the industry. “You know, I was in tunnels. I couldn’t breathe. And then I started working in studios, and I felt like I was suffocating.”
Gisele recalled, “I lived on the ninth floor and I had to take the stairs because I was afraid I would be stuck in the elevator and start hyperventilating…”
“You know, when you can’t breathe, even with the windows open, you feel like, I don’t want to live like this, you know what I mean?”
Candid: Gisele Bundchen, 43, opened up about the overwhelming stress she faced during her modeling career, which at one point led her to fantasize about ‘jumping out the window’
Successful career: The mother of two launched her professional modeling career at New York Fashion Week in 1996 – when she was just 16 years old; seen in 2000
Cowan intervened and asked Gisele, “Have you really thought about jumping?” The model then responded with, “Yes. For a second.’
In 1993, Bundchen and her sisters took a modeling course through their mother, and were later discovered by Elite Model Management.
After coming second in the national competition called Elite Mode Look, the beauty moved to Sau Paulo to pursue a career in the modeling industry.
She broke through professionally in 1996 during New York Fashion Week and starred in campaigns for several luxury brands in the late 1990s, such as Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Versace.
Her first cover for Vogue was for Vogue Paris in 1998, and the following year she signed with IMG Models.
Also in 1999, she celebrated her first American Vogue cover and later that same year she won the VH1 Vogue Model of the Year Award. At the age of 19, Gisele signed a contract with Victoria’s Secret.
Her success traveled into the 2000s, where she continued to strut the runway and collaborate with brands.
The star also entered the film industry, appearing in films such as Taxi (2004) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006).
In the past: Gisele remembers, “I lived on the ninth floor and I had to take the stairs because I was afraid I would be stuck in the elevator and start hyperventilating…”
Emotional: “You know, when you can’t breathe, even with the windows open, you feel like, I don’t want to live like this, you know what I mean?” Bundchen expressed; seen in 2000 in New York
‘Jumping’: Cowan interjected and asked Gisele, “Have you really thought about jumping?” The model then responded with, “Yes. For a second’; seen in 2005
Gisele remains prominent in the industry to this day, most notably starring in the latest Icons campaign for Victoria’s Secret last August. She joined other celebrities such as Naomi Campbell and Adriana Lima.
However, she has previously spoken candidly about the challenges she faced when entering the modeling world at a young age.
While you’re talking to Vanity fair earlier this year in March, she discussed moving to New York and pursuing other forms of life, but found herself surrounded by drug use.
‘I saw things that said: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I always say my guardian angels are very powerful,” Gisele explained, adding that she “escaped” certain situations because she had “faith.”
‘You have to survive that… It’s just emotional. I feel everything so deeply, and when I remember it, I feel like I’m reliving it,” Bundchen said later, recalling how “heavy” it was at the time.
“My natural instinct was, ‘I’m not going to fall victim to this. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Why are they treating me like this?’ Why do they let me stand here naked for eight hours without offering me water or food? Why are they so mean?”
“I could have sat there thinking, ‘Am I worth anything at all?’ Gisele stated emotionally.
‘I could have chosen to use drugs. I could have chosen to party. I could have chosen to allow… the vampires out there to suck the life out of me and use me, but I got out of it. I wasn’t broken.’
Working with brands: At the age of 19, Gisele signed a contract with Victoria’s Secret; seen in 2000 wearing the lingerie brand’s $15 million bejeweled fantasy bra
Struggles: Speaking to Vanity Fair earlier this year in March, she discussed moving to New York and taking up other forms of living, but found herself surrounded by drug use; seen in 1998