South African model Candice Swanepoel wasn’t always beloved for her looks. In an interview with GQ UK, the 23-year-old beauty revealed that classmates often teased her because of her small size, though the model always seemed to know her appearance was something special.

“At school, I got teased because I was so thin and awkward-looking. But the girls on TV looked similar to me,” Swanepoel said, referring to the fashions shows she watched as a teen. “I would say to my mom, the girls at school are teasing me, but I look like those girls on TV. A year later, someone took me to an agency and that's it.”

Swanepoel appears in the May edition of GQ UK. The Victoria’s Secret model chatted with the magazine about growing up in South Africa, her forays into boxing and skateboarding, her BFF Rosie Huntington-Whitely (another Victoria’s Secret model), and hanging with the Victoria’s Secret girls on her nights off.

“It’s so nice,” Candice said. “We live a very different life that not many other people can understand.”

Candice began working as a model at the age of 15, after an agent discovered the beauty at a Durban flea market. Sexy Swanepool has since appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar, in addition to appearing in advertisements for Guess?, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Versace, Diesel, and Victoria’s Secret. Swanepoel became a Victoria’s Secret Angel in 2010 and is now one of the highest paid models in the world.

So how does Candice feel about her childhood bullies now?

"Revenge is always...I know it sounds terrible, but it does feel good to show those people."

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