Radio interview: Heidi Klum talks about age shaming – and how she deals with the criticism

The 19th season of “Germany’s Next Top Model” starts on February 15th and for the first time there are also male candidates.

Radio interview: Heidi Klum talks about age shaming – and how she deals with the criticism

The 19th season of “Germany’s Next Top Model” starts on February 15th and for the first time there are also male candidates. An idea that Heidi Klum has been pursuing for several years and which is now being realized. In an interview with the radio station Jam FM, she revealed that she actually wants her own GNTM show only for male participants. "I wanted to divide it into two days: the men on Tuesdays and the women on Thursdays. In the final everyone meets each other. You have to have balls in your pants. I have them. The broadcaster didn't have balls in their pants, I did to give two days," said Klum. They now want to see how the new concept is received by the audience. "If the viewers love it, I hope that another day will be added next year. I would like that and find it super exciting."

She also reported that there will be no older candidates in the new season. "I would have really liked Best Ager, but I can only take the people with me who introduce themselves. Unfortunately, there were none of the women or men." The oldest candidate is a 34-year-old who is the mother of four sons, Klum revealed.

The 50-year-old once again delivers the title song for this year's GNTM season herself. Together with the Dutch DJ Tiësto, she has released a remake of the 80s hit "Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart. "I tried to make my voice not quite so high and annoying. I brought out my sexy radio voice," Klum said of the party track.

She now loves to party until the early hours of the morning. She is often one of the last to be swept out of the club when the lights are already on. "For so many years I went to bed early because of my children, often at 9 p.m. I was always extremely tired. At night I had to breastfeed a child or one would cry and in the morning I had to get out super early again," said Klum. She missed her “going out phase” back then. She is now making up for this with her husband, musician Tom Kaulitz. "Even though I'm 50 now, I don't feel like I'm half dead," she said.

Klum tries to ignore the fact that she is often criticized for her lifestyle, also because her husband is 16 years younger than her. Both are aware of the age difference. "It's our decision. My husband has to go home with his old wife. He can see that too - his eyes are still sharp. I'm aware that I'm older and look older." Klum spoke of age shaming and named Thomas Gottschalk, who described her as Bill and Tom Kaulitz's "guardian" in his podcast.

To protect herself from such comments, Klum has also turned off the comment function on her Instagram channel. "It's not good for my head to always have to read negative things. I don't want to put myself through that. If I don't have the function, no one can insult me."

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