“It’s A Mindset”: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley On Returning To Victoria’s Secret 16 Years Later

Twenty years ago, a 19-year-old Devon native named Rosie Huntington-Whiteley made her Victoria’s Secret runway debut in a polka-dot bra and knickers, carrying a stuffed polka-dot dog, with a polka-dot duvet trailing behind her. This cutesy girl-next-door look helped catapult Huntington-Whiteley from Teen Vogue favourite to Burberry face, bona fide lingerie designer, beauty entrepreneur and blockbuster movie star. Now, after hanging up her Angel wings in 2010 to focus on building her own Rose Inc empire, she’s back in the Victoria’s Secret fold.

“Delighted” is how Rosie feels now, returning to the runway a decade and a half later. In the back of a cab en route to her fitting in LA, she can’t delve into the details of the feathered, rhinestoned tulle extravaganza she might wear as the final look will be a collaboration between the model mogul and executive creative director Adam Selman, who cut his teeth in the underwear business at Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty. What has long been fixed is Huntington-Whiteley’s fitness regime. “It’s really about consistency because I’m a gym girl – I’m always training and taking care of myself,” says Rosie, who credits strength training (it gets competitive in her home gym with husband Jason Statham) as the backbone of her workout routine. “I’m about to turn 40 next year; I look at my body and I have so much appreciation for having had two children. For me, it’s really about feeling strong and fit, as opposed to thinking about a number on the scales or on a measuring tape. Competence builds confidence.”

There are a few short-term wellness hacks before stripping down on one of the biggest model platforms in the world. Rest, hydration, protein (“Nothing is off the table for me ever with my diet”), lymphatic drainage (via Rebecca Faria), facials (she’s been seeing Shani Darden for 15 years) and cold plunge therapy (the Alo Yoga gym is round the corner from her hotel) all play into Huntington-Whiteley’s belief that “it’s a mindset more than anything”. She knows she’s “put in the best effort”, and after that, it’s up to hair and make-up veterans Guido and Pat McGrath.

The electric vibe backstage helps. Despite the brand’s patchy reputation, I’ve never heard a Victoria’s Secret model speak ill of what Huntington-Whiteley describes as “the ultimate iconic American brand”. Rosie is no different: “It’s a show that continues to celebrate everything people have always loved about Victoria’s Secret while embracing a modern perspective on beauty, confidence and individuality – I’m so happy to be here in this new era.” She’s particularly excited to reunite with another returning super (guesses on a postcard!), alongside BFF Candice Swanepoel and industry pals Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser and Anok Yai.

It’s this sisterhood that keeps the industry’s most recognisable faces signing on the dotted line (aside from the pay cheque.) Prior to flying out to Hollywood, Rosie scrolled all the way back to ’06 on her iPhone, unearthing pictures of “baby-faced, bright-eyed girls with glitter flying everywhere”. Snaps of Rosie and Miranda Kerr, who she was partnered with as a fellow “newbie”, in promo mode on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sit next to selfies with VS veteran Adriana Lima as the “girl from Devon, who’d left school at 17 on the hope of making it big”, got to grips with her new reality in the spotlight.

“It’s a full-circle moment,” reflects Huntington-Whiteley. “My children will wake up on Monday morning and watch it over breakfast with dad – things just feel all the more special now.”