“I’m just a little fatter. It’s the menopause” These are the words of German-American supermodel, television host and businesswoman Heidi Klum. She sat down with Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast and affirmed that she marches to the beat of her own drum when it comes to her body.
“I love fun things, and I’m still running around the beach with my boobs hanging out, and I really don’t care. Do they look like they looked before I had kids, and they sucked the living daylight out of them? They are different now!”
Bodily changes in any woman’s life, regardless of age, can present challenges.. However, the emotional pressure that women over the age of 40 face to ‘maintain their appearance’ in the face of menopause definitely takes the cake.
Researchers have associated the importance of appearance and age-related anxiety with depression among women aged 45-65. The pressure of age interconnects with the pressure to stay thin. Meanwhile, model and television host Heidi Klum has said goodbye to these expectations for good.
From Bergisch Gladbach to Heidi Klum Supermodel
Heidi Klum was born in Bergisch Gladbach, a small city near Cologne, Germany, in 1973. Her career journey began by chance when, on a whim, she submitted portfolio photos to a modelling competition that Petra, a young woman’s magazine, held. Heidi Klum won the competition and was signed with Metropolitan, a German modelling agency. She experienced great success in Europe and later went to the United States, where she experienced even more modelling success.
In 1998, the modelling world brought Klum to its pinnacle, claiming the cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual Swimsuit Issue. She’s gained a plethora of opportunities, including her own signature sandals, perfume, and jewelry.
While Heidi experienced great success, challenges followed. In 2009, British Vogue reported that Wolfgang Joop declared:
“She is no runway model. Heidi Klum is simply too heavy and with too big a bust. And she always grins so stupidly.”
Radical Acceptance Through the Years
Klum’s lifelong practice of radical acceptance and honest attitude kept negative commentary from overshadowing her. This practice is especially needed when facing the cultural and biological complexities of menopause. During her appearance at the Venice Film Festival in 2025, the model faced pregnancy rumors. In typical Klum fashion, she chose to speak frankly about her weight gain in her new docu-series On & Off the Catwalk, which ProSieben and Joyn released on February 22nd.
“Many say she’s too fat or too thin or pregnant, but I am not pregnant. I’m just a little fatter now. It’s the menopause.”
“Rolling with it”: Klum’s Philosophy on Aging
When it comes to the journey of menopause, Klum’s attitude is to lay one’s cards on the table and not sugarcoat it. She told InStyle magazine that, “Everyone should age the way they want to age, and people should just be more graceful about it. My kids see how I deal with my aging, and that I don’t really have a problem with it. We all try to look our best. But at the same time, they know that I’m not that obsessed about it. I’m just rolling with it the way it’s happening to me.”
Menopause: Challenging Patriarchal Narratives
Lisa Moscini PhD said in her book, The Menopause Brain:
“However astoundingly flawed the doctrine of female inferiority may be, it’s nothing short of the backbone of modern science.”
Society largely views menopause through a mystified patriarchal lens that renders women less attractive and less mentally sound. Moscini describes colloquial expressions for menopause all over Europe, such as “women’s hell” and “death of sex”.
In reality, menopause is the natural and permanent cessation of menstruation, resulting from declining ovarian function and estrogen deficiency.
Why Klum’s Voice Matters
Women are taught to fear their hormones and doubt their bodies. That is why it is so tremendously important that public figures such as Heidi Klum speak up in the face of social taboo. Her frank attitude towards aging and menopause helps to foster a culture of understanding, acceptance, and care.
By calling the effect of menopause what it is (“just a little fatter”) and refusing to apologize for it, Klum permits other women to do the same.
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