Wiki & Biography : Candice Swanepoel—South African Model

Candice Swanepoel is a model for the popular clothing line Victoria’s Secret. She is also one of the top-earning models in the 2016 Forbes list. She comes from South Africa and has become the number one in the 2014 Hot 100 List of Maxim magazine. She has posed for brands of designers and companies alike that has brought her to who she is now today.

She has been engaged to Hermann Nicoli since August 2015 and they welcomed their first child in October 2016. They are now currently living together in New York. Their wedding is still most awaited by her 11.3 million followers on Instagram and 1.41 million followers on Twitter.

Early Life and Family

She was born on October 20, 1988, as Candice Susan Swanepoel in Mooi River, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Her parents are both from Africa. Her dad is from Mutare, Zimbabwe, while her mom is from South Africa as well. Her family comes from the Afrikaner ethnicity. Basically, they are a group of Africans who originate from Dutch settlers in the seventeenth century. Which means, Candice is also of Dutch descent. She only has one sibling that she is close to, named Stephen. In some of her posts, she can be seen beside his brother. She is also a cousin of Minka McConaughey and Mila McConaughey.

She studied in a boarding school in the town of Hilton. She was still at St. Anne’s Diocesan College when she was discovered by Kevin Ellise, a model scout, while in the Durban Flea Market. She was only 15 years old at that time. Kevin described their first encounter: “It was like… honestly, like a beautiful flamingo walking past my shop. The way she walked past just did it for me.” No less than a year later she already started walking the runway for designers all over Europe. She earned 5,000 Euro in a day during that time. She then posed for editorials of Vogue for different countries, Elle Magazine, and Harper’s Bazaar. She said that the best part about being a model is “being able to travel to amazing places, working in an extremely creative environment.”

Personal Life

Aside from being a model, she also spends her time in charity work. She is affiliated with Mother2Mother in pushing the “HIV-free generation” of the children and mothers of Africa. At some point, she has designed types of denim for the benefit of the organization. In 2010, her name made it to the Forbes list of “The World’s Top-Earning Models” for the first time. Her rank continued to rise from 10th place to the 8th place in 2016. Although capable of speaking three languages—Afrikaans, English, and Portuguese—Candice definitely does not have it all. It was said in an unofficial biography of her that she still doesn’t have a driver’s license.

She moved to New York in 2017 with her fiance and son. He first met Hermann Nicoli in Paris in 2005. She was then 17 years old while he was already 20 years old. They have been together for more than ten years now and has managed to keep their relationship on the down-low. They spent a long time apart from each other due to their schedules.

Hermann likes to post about her and their son on his Instagram account. He and his family come from Brazil. In fact, his sisters, Gabi and Sabrina, are still living in the country. Both of them have spent some time in the country and even bought a property there. Eventually, Candice fell in love with the place and has made it a point to learn Portuguese for Hermann. He proposed to her in August 2015. Candice gave birth to their son, Anaca Nicoli on October 5, 2016.

Career

Since her breakthrough in 2007, Candice has been modeled for Victoria’s Secret’s swimsuit campaigns, advertisements, and other projects. She became one of their “angels” in 2010 and has joined their fashion show multiple times, only missing it when she was still recuperating after giving birth. She was in the “SWIM” catalog along with other famous models that are also her friends. She inaugurated the Victoria’s Secret’s retail store in West Edmonton Mall, which is the first Victoria’s Secret’s retail store in Edmonton, Canada.

She was also the cover model for the 2013 Victoria’s Secret Swim Catalog. She wore the “Fantasy Bra” after being chosen in the 2012 fashion show of the clothing line. It had 4,200 gems composed of diamonds, rubies, and sapphire set in 18-carat gold. It also had a stunning ruby-center that was 52 carat. It was nicknamed as the “Royal Fantasy Bra” due to the luxurious materials that were used and has been the most expensive Fantasy Bra. Its worth is estimated to be at $10 million.

When she was interviewed about her hardest preparation for her shows she replied, “The hardest is boxing, but I really enjoy it because it allows me to get a lot out. But the slow, resistance training that I do mostly is what really kills me. People think because it’s slow it doesn’t hurt, but it’s that slow burn that gets me!” And in terms of diet, she had this to say: “I eat really healthily in general. I just feel better that way, but I’ll eat more protein to try and build more muscle because I like strong legs and a bum on the runway. Usually, I don’t think too much about what I eat, other than if it’s fresh or healthy, but in the next five weeks, I’ll be thinking of mixing in veggies and protein with my meal. Maybe even a green juice, so I can feel like I’m doing good to my body.”

Net Worth

Ranked as the 8th highest paid model of 2016, Candice has a total net worth of $10 million and drives around a 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster that is worth $135,000.