EXCLUSIVE: Heidi Klum reveals the advice she gave daughter Leni, 19, when teen embarked on her OWN modeling career – after duo was blasted for posing in a scandalous lingerie shoot together

• The TV personality, 50, faced fury when she and Leni posed in their underwear
• Now, she spoke about the tips she gives her kids when it comes to their careers
• She told DailyMail.com that she wants her four children to prioritize ‘happiness’ 

Heidi Klum has shared the heartwarming advice that she gave her 19-year-old daughter, Leni, when she embarked on her modeling career – months after the duo was blasted for partaking in a scandalous lingerie shoot together.

The TV personality, 50, faced furious fire last year, when she and then-18-year-old Leni stripped down to their underwear and posed for the Italian brand Intimissimi.

Despite receiving immense criticism for the nearly-nude campaign, Heidi and Leni took off their clothes for a second Intimissimi shoot earlier this year.

Now, Heidi has spoken exclusively to DailyMail.com about the inspiring tips that she gives Leni – whom she shares with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore – as well her other daughter, Lou, and her two sons, Henry and Johan, who she had with Seal, when it comes to their careers.

Heidi Klum has shared the advice she gave her daughter, Leni, when she embarked on her modeling career – months after the duo was blasted for partaking in a lingerie shoot together

The mother-of-four (seen during the controversial shoot) said she reminds her kids to focus on their ‘happiness’ and to find a career that they ‘love doing’ and ‘believe they can be good at’ 

‘I always say to them, be happy with who you see in the mirror. At the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy,’ Heidi, 50, told DailyMail.com at the America’s Got Talent premiere

Heidi (seen with her four kids in 2017) shares Leni with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore. She also welcomed daughter, Lou, and sons, Henry and Johan, with her ex Seal

According to the mother-of-four, she reminds her kids to focus on their own ‘happiness’ and to find a job that they ‘love doing’ and ‘believe they can be really good at.’

‘Really dig deep and find something that you love doing – and also, something that you believe you can be really good at it,’ Heidi (seen with daughter Leni, 19) continued

‘I always say to them, “Be happy with who you see in the mirror.” At the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy,’ she explained at the America’s Got Talent premiere on Tuesday evening in Los Angeles. 

‘Find something that you love doing. I think there’s nothing worse than when you have to go and do something that you don’t like doing.

‘Really dig deep and find something that you love doing – and also, something that you believe you can be really good at it.’

‘But other than that, we [only] live once,’ she added. ‘So let’s have fun while we’re here. That’s what I tell them.’

Leni first stepped into the world of modeling in 2020, at age 16, when she posed for the cover of Vogue Germany magazine with her supermodel mom.

‘I’m so proud of you. And not because you chose this path,’ Heidi gushed on Instagram at the time, while sharing some behind-the-scene footage from the shoot.

The TV personality faced furious fire last year, when she and then-18-year-old Leni stripped down to their underwear and posed for the Italian brand Intimissimi 

Leni first stepped into the world of modeling in 2020, at age 16, when she posed for the cover of Vogue Germany magazine with her supermodel mom (seen)

Leni then landed her first solo cover for Glamour Germany in April 2021 (left) – which was monumental for the teen, since her mom was Glamour Germany’s first ever cover model (right)

Heidi said that Leni (seen posing for Intimissimi) wanted to model ‘for quite some time’ and her first job offer came when she was 12 – but that she made her wait until she was ‘old enough’

‘I know that no matter which way you go, it will be your own. You always know exactly what you want and what you don’t want. 

‘You are not a mini-me. And I’m happy for you that you can now show who YOU ​​are.’

She added: ‘You are a self-confident young woman who fights for her goals. And even more important: you are a really great person with your heart in the right place.’

Leni then landed her first solo cover for Glamour Germany in April 2021 – which was monumental to the teen, since her mom was Glamour Germany’s first ever cover model years earlier.

Heidi told People that Leni wanted to model ‘for quite some time’ and that her first job offer came when she was only 12 – but that she forced her daughter to wait until she felt she was ‘old enough.’

But in October 2022, the pair was fiercely scrutinized when they appeared in a controversial lingerie-clad shoot together – which some people branded as ‘weird’ and ‘disturbing’ and slammed Heidi for ‘sexualizing her daughter.’

One of the photos showed them kidding in their bra and underwear, while another featured them pressing their bodies together and giggling.

Howard Stern even called it ‘inappropriate’ and ‘out of line’ on his radio talk show.

‘I looked at it and I thought, “This is so f**king’ out of line. It is so inappropriate.” But you can’t stop looking at it,’ he said. 

In October 2022, the pair was fiercely scrutinized when they appeared in a controversial lingerie-clad shoot together – which some people branded as ‘weird’ and ‘disturbing ‘ 

The criticism didn’t seem to phase the mother-daughter pair, however, as they posed in their undies once again for Intimissi in May (seen)

‘It looks like a guy’s [personal] fantasy. They’re kissing and they’re holding each other. And they’re frolicking.’ 

Afterwards, Leni addressed the backlash during an interview with Page Six, and she said that she ‘didn’t look at the reactions’ or ‘pay attention’ to the negative feedback – and was ‘overall happy with the campaign.’

‘I had an amazing day with my mom,’ she added. ‘The photos turned out great.’

The criticism didn’t seem to phase the mother-daughter pair, however, as they posed in their undies once again for Intimissi in May.

Afterwards, DailyMail.com columnist Samantha Brick wrote that Heidi ‘inexplicably trotted out her teenage daughter’ and had ‘zero limits’ in her ‘obsessive pursuit for those Insta followers.’

‘Heidi – who celebrated reaching 10 million Instagram followers by eating cake from her crotch – has quite clearly lost her grip on her mommy moral compass,’ she said.

Leni, who was adopted by Seal after he and Heidi married in 2005, is currently studying interior design at a college in New York City while also continuing to flourish in the fashion world.

She and Seal split in 2014, and she went on to marry Tokyo Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz in 2019. 

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