Self-confessed Elle Macpherson admits to crippling self-doubt, insecurity

Elle Macpherson has been known as “The Body” for decades, but the original supermodel and self-confessed helicopter mum has opened up on the self-doubt and insecurity simmering underneath.

The original supermodel Elle Macpherson has candidly opened up about her “self-doubt”, her pursuit of perfectionism, her “fear of getting it wrong” and the lessons she hopes to pass onto her boys at a women’s business breakfast this morning.

The 55-year-old model and entrepreneur admitted to being a “helicopter, control freak mum” and revealed she was never comfortable in front of the camera in the far reaching interview at the Business Chicks breakfast at Crown.

“A lot of you might be surprised, I wasn’t comfortable in front of the camera,” she said.

“I was very fortunate to be modelling but I wasn’t comfortable in front of the camera. That amount of scrutiny is quite difficult to cope with day in and day out.

Elle Macpherson has admitted to being a control freak mum. Picture: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

“When I say scrutiny, it wasn’t only the business scrutiny but it was my own. I had a huge attention to detail, it’s not great when it’s directed at yourself.”

“I think a lot of people are inhibited by perfectionism, and in my case, I knew I couldn’t model forever and I knew it wasn’t going to be healthy for me — it had a shelf life and I had to evolve.”

She said she saw how sports stars John Newcombe and Greg Norman had used their sporting profile to make money in other areas and she wanted to do the same.

“I was trying to find ways where I could maximise the impact of my camera time but minimise my time in front of the camera. I didn’t understand the word branding or licensing, I just knew there was a correlation,” she said.

Elle Macpherson at the Lexus Marquee on Derby Day last year. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian.

“I’d seen Greg Norman do the same thing with his shark brand and I thought, maybe I can get paid for the performance of the product rather than for my own performance.

“Licensing today is something people do now but in the ’80s there was no one in the fashion industry doing it, there were no other models or someone to look up to.”

She went on to say motherhood changed her and shifted her priorities.

“I had to put my children first. I was 35 when I had my first (Flynn) and 41 when I had Cy and so I came to children a little later in life, but I made sure they were going to be the priority,” Macpherson said.

“I used to travel a lot and I’d go through that thing that (working) mothers go through. I would always tell them: ‘Mum loves what she does and I hope in life you find something you love to do so that work doesn’t feel like work and you go off and do your thing and while I’m off doing my thing, how cool for you guys to have that time without your helicopter, control-freak mother around.’”

Elle Macpherson and son, Flynn. Picture: Stefania D'Alessandro

Elle Macpherson and her younger son, Cy.

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“I was so moved to read in Vogue the thing my son said. He said: ‘We always knew that we were my mum’s priority, we never felt she put her work or anything in front of us.’

“It was so important to read, you never know how your business life affects your children.”

Macpherson said her pursuit of perfectionism has come at a cost, often paralysing her when it comes to making decisions.

“That desire to be perfect or to make the right decision and the fear of getting it wrong for me has led to procrastination in me at times and then self-doubt.

“By the time I’m doing all this mental masturbation, the opportunity that came up passes me by because I couldn’t make a decision on it,” she said.

“It’s not helpful and I’ve really struggled with that. What I’ve come to understand is there is no right or wrong, there are just choices.”