Heidi Klum Is Not Here For Haters

Heidi Klum recently sat down for an interview with Ocean Drive Magazine; here's what she had to say:

What’s the biggest criticism you’ve received? 
"That I’m too curvy. Too feminine. I got that a lot. That I should be skinnier. And that I’m not edgy enough and a little too happy half of the time. Everyone was always telling me maybe I should skip a meal or I should go on these [diet] pills. I just always stuck to my guns and thought either they want me the way I am or this is not the right job for me."

Did that ever make you insecure? 
"When you’re a normal girl from a small town and no one really takes note of you, and then all of a sudden you’re walking down a catwalk in your lingerie and on the cover of Sports Illustrated and all these people are turning their heads when you go into a restaurant and pointing their finger at you saying, “She’s not as pretty in person as she is in photos,” you get a little insecure. You always get judged, so you have to learn how to handle that."

You must be a stickler with your diet. 
"Food is really important with four kids. We get up at 6:30 and all have breakfast together. We eat healthfully at home but something different every day; there’s always a carb, always some type of meat, and a salad. On the road is harder, and I will be that annoying girl with the Tupperware stinky salad with fish on top, because I don’t know what there is for lunch and I don’t want some weird processed stuff. You are what you eat, and people know it."

You’re classic, yet you’re a fan of going topless. 
"I grew up going to nude beaches with my parents, so I’m a nudist. I have no problems with nudity at all. I’m very free. When I go to the beach, it’s in a very remote place where there are not a lot of people, and I like to go topless."

Is that why you’re so open about sex and public displays of affection?
"I’m not doing PDA on the beach with tons of people. I go on a boat or I take a hike somewhere. If you would zoom out in the places where I’m with my boyfriend, there’s nobody there. Unfortunately, paparazzi always follow us, in a helicopter or they hang behind a bush or a boat and they come up with scuba gear. But to the outside world, it looks like we’re frolicking on the beach having a show in front of everyone."

Speaking of your boyfriend and paparazzi, the media loves calling you a cougar. [Klum is 43 and Schnabel is 30.]
"It’s not about age. We have an amazing connection, we have fun together, and we love each other. It doesn’t matter what people say. As long as you know when you close your door in your own home, you have an amazing time together. That’s really all that matters."

Read the full interview at Ocean Drive Magazine.