Model Victoria Lee’s success will not be secret much longer

HER country upbringing has helped put this model Aussie on track for stardom, writes Elle Halliwell.

Victoria Lee from Narrandera: “Before I travelled the world I just thought everyone grew up in a small town.”

VICTORIA Lee is just over a fortnight away from becoming Australia’s next modelling superstar.

On November 28 hundreds of millions of people in more than 180 countries will watch as she takes her first steps on the annual Victoria’s Secret runway, instantly transforming her from local model to supermodel.

Lee may seem like an overnight success story, but the beauty’s rise to the top of the modelling world has been 10 tough years in the making.

When BW sat down with Lee, she showed no hint of nerves.

It’s easy to see why the blonde 27-year-old was chosen to join the elite group of women who parade the US lingerie giant’s wares each year. She’s slender, but not skinny, her porcelain skin is flawless and her honey blonde hair is so thick she doesn’t need extensions, despite the constant tonging, blow drying and styling it undergoes.

“She actually has to get it thinned at the hairdressers sometimes, because she has so much of it,” her mum Jacki reveals during BW Magazine’s exclusive shoot.

When BW sat down with Lee, she showed no hint of nerves. She was just excited about finally realising her dream of taking part in the Victoria’s Secret show, which this year will be held in the Chinese city of Shanghai. She will join star models Bella Hadid, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel and fellow Aussie Kelly Gale.

“I don’t think this could have happened any earlier.”

“I’m on a massive high still,” Lee reveals. “I keep having to remind myself I’m in it.”

It’s not just Lee who is still smiling since the news came in that she had beat thousands of hopeful models who had auditioned for the parade. Mum Jacki and her nan are thrilled.

“I called them and they both burst into tears,” says Lee.

“And then I get a picture of the two of them sitting in the backyard with a glass of wine. Then the whole family went to the pub for dinner and they were having all these little celebrations, so it was really nice.”

Australian model Victoria Lee is walking for Victoria's Secret this year for the first time. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The news was a long time coming for the family — Lee unsuccessfully auditioned for the show three times.

“The first time was years ago when I had just been in New York,” she says. “And the second time I didn’t even make the call-backs. The third time I did make the call-backs and last year I didn’t go.”

Lee says that when she looks back at her previous auditions she can see why she didn’t make the cut.

“I don’t think this could have happened any earlier because, looking back, I wasn’t ready,” the model admits.

“I didn’t have a care in the world.”

“I can definitely see all of those factors that needed to be in place for it to work, because you have to be really comfortable in your own skin.

“It’s so much more than just your looks. It’s about your personality. You’re more of a spokesman than just the face — which I think is great, that they just pick you and you as a person.”

Lee’s base in New York City is a world away from Narrandera — the small town in the southwest of NSW where she grew up. Her family still lives in the farming community with a population of less than 4000.

The 26-year-old as a NSW school student.

“Before I travelled the world I just thought everyone grew up in a small town, and knew their neighbours … I just thought that was the way that everyone grew up,” she says.

She credits her carefree childhood with keeping her grounded.

“Everyone had the freedom to be outside and play sport and have fresh air around them, and I’m now noticing how fortunate I was,” she says.

“I didn’t have a care in the world. I had a loving family and friends and a whole community around me and I still do. It was perfect.”

“You bump into each other getting milk.”

The Seafolly model recently returned to Narrandera to be a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding, and had a rare chance to relax with her family away from the hectic pace of the Big Apple.

“Everyone is exactly the same and not fussed with the world of fashion and things like that,” Lee says.

“It’s very grounding. You bump into each other getting milk, and it’s just lovely.”

Lee was in her early teens when a number of photographers noticed her potential and suggested she approach a modelling agency in Sydney.

After finishing school she signed with Priscilla’s Model Management and has been solidly booked with work since.

Victoria Lee on a seaside holiday as a child.

Modelling wasn’t a huge priority for Lee early on. She had begun studying nutrition at university but deferred the degree when the work commitments became too much. Lee says she still has a passion for nutrition, and found it to be a huge benefit personally when it came to keeping her stunning body in top shape.

She says she’s well aware of the intense fitness and eating regimens undertaken by some of her Victoria’s Secret peers.

In 2011 Adriana Lima told a British newspaper that she survived on nothing but liquids for nine days before the show, and other models have admitted to working out twice a day to get runway ready.

Lee is already looking beyond the next decade. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Lee (right) at an Australian fashion party in New York with Annabella Barber.

Lee’s approach to health and fitness is more holistic, involving dance-based routines and a high-protein diet of chicken and leafy greens and healthy fats such as nuts and avocado.

It’s something she tries to stick to year around, with the odd treat and plenty of rest days.

“I want to have something that’s sustainable rather than it being work, work, work and then meet this date and nothing,” she says.

“So it’s great to have this motivation — I don’t think there could be better motivation that the Victoria’s Secret show — but then to be able to continue and feel in the best shape possible is fantastic.”

If the careers of compatriots Miranda Kerr, Jessica Hart, Shanina Shaik and Abbey Lee Kershaw are any indication, the modelling work is set to roll in after she makes her appearance at this month’s Victoria’s Secret runway show. Lee, however, is already looking beyond the next decade.

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“You hope your career is going to last a long time, but I think it’s important to develop new skills and make use of the skills you have and the talented people you find yourself surrounded by,” she says.

“Elle Macpherson is such an inspiration; I think she’s gorgeous and has had an amazing career as a model and a businesswoman, and I’m definitely thinking about how I can expand my profile outside of modelling.”

An acting career is also on Lee’s radar. “I had a callback for the Baywatch movie,” she reveals.

“I love modelling and its my job but acting just gives you that added dimension. In my head I become a character in my work, so to actually have a character to play you bring out different parts of yourself.”

For the moment, however, she’s got one thing on her mind.

“I don’t want to get too ahead of myself,” she says, laughing. “I’m still very much focused on the show. But after that the sky’s the limit, I’m ready for anything.”