Tragic Details About Heidi Klum's Life
Heidi Klum has been a massively successful supermodel and entrepreneur for decades. However, she's also faced her share of trials and tribulations over the years. In an auspicious beginning, Klum won a $300,000 contract after she entered a modeling competition. Even so, this early success didn't ensure instant fame.
As she got started in the business, Klum ran into some difficulties when she was criticized for her body type. "I had the curves, and when I started, that wasn't really what was in fashion," Klum explained on "The Early Show." She had to endure unhelpful suggestions from individuals who pushed her to try unhealthy tactics, like pills, to look thinner. Fortunately, Klum was able to tune out the noise. "I never bought into it. I felt if they don't want me like that, it's tough." she informed The Times in November 2024. "Instead, I did a lot of catalogues, which was fine — I made money."
Even so, looks are part of her brand, and Klum was lucky that a scary childhood accident didn't negatively impact her career. "When I was young, I fell into a glass and I have like a big scar," Klum revealed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2022. She didn't share whether or not the injury required stitches, but Klum did note that the scar can be concealed with cosmetics. However, Klum's dealt with some life difficulties that weren't as easily overcome, including failed relationships and ageism.
Klum's relationship with Flavio Briatore had a sad, sudden conclusion
Heidi Klum's first marriage to Ric Pipino lasted five years, and prior to her second marriage to Seal, Klum had a brief relationship with Flavio Briatore, during which she became pregnant with her daughter Leni Klum. However, by early 2004, the relationship abruptly ended due to allegations of Briatore's infidelity. "She is absolutely devastated," Klum's aunt informed the Sunday Mirror (via British Vogue). Based on her remarks, Klum's aunt was super angry, and she didn't hesitate to pile insults on Briatore. "I'll never know what she was doing with such an old has-been," she added.
Seal and Klum got together during her pregnancy, and Seal and Leni formed a strong bond from the moment she was born. Seal adopted her, and Briatore played a limited role in Leni's life since he lived thousands of miles away. "We used to speak on the phone two hours a day, but it wasn't enough," Briatore explained to Corriere Della Sera in 2016 (via the Daily Mail). Leni and Briatore only reconnected in person when she became an adult.
Surprisingly, in October 2024, despite her past heartbreak, Klum forged a new kind of relationship with her old flame. Briatore owns a number of Crazy Pizza establishments all over the world, and Klum became his business partner for the company's New York City restaurant.
Klum went through a difficult divorce
After their 2005 wedding, Heidi Klum and Seal had a tradition of renewing their vows. "It's a reminder of the fact you can't take anything for granted," Seal told The Guardian in 2008. However, this reaffirmation wasn't enough to keep their bond going, Klum later admitted, and they announced the end of their marriage in 2012. At the time, TMZ reported, "Seal's inability to control his anger has become too much for Heidi to take."
While Klum declined to divulge any specifics about why her marriage failed, she did acknowledge the emotional weight of the process, telling Elle in 2012 (via Huffpost), "I feel like I'm in the eye of the tornado." The situation became even more fraught as Klum started dating Martin Kirsten, who worked for the family as a bodyguard. Seal was angry with Klum's timing, since the divorce proceedings weren't complete. "I would of [sic] thought that Heidi would have shown a little more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help, as it were," he complained to TMZ in September 2012 (via ABC News).
The legal process took two years, but the challenges of parental custody have continued to impact Klum and Seal's relationship. In 2020, Klum wanted her kids with her when she did a TV gig in Germany. Seal was concerned about long-term pandemic-related separations. Their oldest daughter, Leni Klum, ended up getting involved in the court proceedings, when she explained how the kids felt caught in the middle of the conflict.
Klum reportedly had a tumultuous time post-Seal
Heidi Klum's relationship with Martin Kirsten was purportedly over by January 2014. Even so, a few months later, with the divorce proceedings between Klum and Seal still ongoing, the supermodel still had to deal with criticism about her actions. "Heidi's drinking and outspoken rude behavior is winning her no friends these days," an insider asserted to Radar. "She's going through a bad midlife crisis." The person went on to accuse Klum of prioritizing then-boyfriend Vito Schnabel over her children, as well as claiming she was dealing with work-related difficulties.
Schnabel and Klum were together over three years, and their relationship ended in September 2017. Three months earlier, a tough situation developed where paparazzi photos led to speculations that Schnabel might be cheating on Klum. Schnabel denied the accusations, informing People, "I was simply saying goodnight to a family friend."
While Klum didn't specify what ultimately led to their breakup, she has discussed past heartbreaks without mentioning names. "I had a relationship, cheated on me for four years straight from the very beginning to the very end, all the time. All the time. Until I found out," Klum informed "Call Her Daddy" in January 2024. "I had the opportunity to go into the emails, which I'd never done." Klum also noted that the evidence she found corroborated a longstanding uneasiness she had about the relationship. In addition, the bad experience cast a shadow over future romances, when she worried about being cheated on again.
Klum continually has to deal with midlife crisis claims
In 2019, the midlife crisis accusations appeared again, albeit in a slightly different context. Heidi Klum had married Tom Kaulitz, and she posted some revealing pics from a trip they were taking together. One shot showed Klum's bare breasts, and fans had polarizing reactions. "All I see is midlife crisis," remarked one Instagram poster. "She's getting old, she's trying desperately to hang on," snarked another. Klum and Kaulitz have a sizable age gap of 16 years -– a fact that sometimes gets disproportionate attention. However, she 's resolved to rise above the chatter. "You have to just live a happy life without worrying too much about what people think because worrying is only going to give you more wrinkles," Klum informed InStyle in 2018 (via Page Six).
Eventually, Klum found it helpful to turned off the commenting feature and keep posting skin-baring shots. Unfortunately, the nasty remarks continue to occur in other places. "People also make fun of me for still dressing sexy at 50," Klum confided to Glamour Germany in March 2024.
Additional assertions of Klum and a midlife crisis were also the subject of a 2022 article on Medium. "A chronic showcasing your physical youth all the time defeats the purpose and throws progress for women out the door," chided Veronika Kaufmann. Instead, when Klum was working on "Germany's Next Top Model," Kaufmann believed she should take an altruistic approach and showcase her modeling industry knowledge.
Klum got very emotional about her oldest daughter moving out
Heidi Klum's a mom to four children, and her oldest, Leni Klum, was born in May 2004. Leni's grown up to be gorgeous just like her mom, and they share a tight bond. In an Instagram video for Vogue Germany, they celebrated the many things they have in common, like a similar laugh and singing style. "You're my best friend because I can tell you everything," Leni sweetly said to Klum. The pair were modeling together for the magazine. Leni was 16 at the time, and Klum spoke of her trepidation about her oldest growing up and leaving home.
Unfortunately for Klum, her daughter picked a school thousands of miles away in New York, likely making the separation even more painful. While Klum worked hard to mentally prepare herself, as Leni's departure got closer, she found herself getting overwhelmed by her emotions during their family dinners. "I have to literally sometimes go and cry somewhere and come back," Klum admitted to Talent Recap in August 2022. "It's so sad . . . I don't know when I'm gonna get this moment again," she added, getting teary.
The actual adjustment process wasn't easy for Klum. Even so, she kept her emotions concealed so well that Leni didn't even know her mom was so upset. After being clued in, however, Leni communicated more frequently, strengthening their connection. "I didn't think she'd be that worried, since there's three other kids," Leni explained to People. "But I get that it's hard for her."