Helena Christensen

In 1991, she moved to Paris and entered into a relationship with Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of ‘INSX’, an Australian rock band. They dated on and off for a period of five years.

In 1998, she began dating Norman Reedus, an American actor and model. They had a son together a year later, named Mingus Lucien Reedus. The couple separated four years later.

In 2002, she launched the second campaign of ‘Fashion Targets Breast Cancer’, a company that sells designer T-shirts to benefit young women with breast cancer.

In 1968, Helena was born to a Danish father and a Peruvian mother. She has said that living in Denmark with a South American mother was a strong character-building experience.

She is multilingual, speaking Danish, Spanish, and English from a young age. Although she was bullied for this in school, she is happy the opportunity these skills have brought to her now.

In 1983, she accidentally entered a beauty pageant, believing it was a fashion show for charity. She won it at the age of 16.

At the age of 18, she won the ‘Miss Denmark crown in 1986. This compelled her to compete in the ‘Miss Universe’ pageant, held in Panama, which she competed in the same year.

In March of 1990, she was on the cover of the British edition of ‘Vogue’ magazine. This would be the first of six appearances on the cover.

She became one of the original ‘Victoria’s Secret Angels’ alongside top supermodels such as Tyra Banks, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, and Daniela Pestova. She worked with this company in print, in commercials, and on the catwalk throughout the 1990s.

In 1991, she starred alongside Chris Isaak in his music video for “Wicked Game.” The video was a hit, ranking number 4 on MTV’s ‘Sexiest Video of All-Time’ and number 13 on VH1’s ‘100 Greatest Videos’.

She was crowned Miss Denmark in 1986 and went on to compete in the Miss University pageant.

In the early 1990s, she became a Victoria’s Secret Angel, making her a household name and solidifying her modeling career.