Heidi Kaulitz (pronounced [ˈhaɪdiː ˈklʊm]; née Klum, formerly Samuel, born 1 June 1973) is a German and American model, television host, actress, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secret Angel.
Following a successful modeling career, Klum became the host and a judge of the reality shows Project Runway (2004–2017, 2025–present) and Germany's Next Topmodel (2006–present). For her work on Project Runway, she earned an Emmy nomination in 2008 and a win in 2013 for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program (shared with co-host Tim Gunn). Klum has also served as a judge on the NBC reality show America's Got Talent (2013–2018, 2020–2024). She has been nominated for six Emmy Awards.
As an occasional actress, Klum has had supporting roles in movies including Blow Dry (2001) and Ella Enchanted (2004), and made cameo appearances in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Perfect Stranger (2007) and Ocean's 8 (2018). She has also made guest appearances on television shows including Sex and the City (2001), How I Met Your Mother (2007), Desperate Housewives (2010), and Parks and Recreation (2013).
Klum has worked as a spokesmodel for Dannon and H&M and has appeared in numerous commercials for McDonald's, Volkswagen, and others. In 2009, she became Barbie's official ambassador on Barbie's 50th anniversary. In May 2011, Forbes magazine estimated Klum's total earnings for that year as US$20 million. She was ranked second on Forbes' list of the "World's Top-Earning Models". Forbes noted that since ending her 13-year run as a Victoria's Secret Angel, Klum has become more of a businesswoman than a model. In 2008, she became an American citizen while maintaining her native German citizenship.
Heidi Klum was born and raised in Bergisch Gladbach, a city near Cologne, West Germany. She is the daughter of Erna Klum (born 1944), a hairdresser, and Günther Klum (born 1945), a cosmetics company executive. A friend convinced her to enroll in a national modeling contest called "Model 92". Out of 25,000 contestants, Klum was voted the winner on 29 April 1992, and she was offered a modeling contract worth US$300,000 by Thomas Zeumer, CEO of Metropolitan Models New York. After winning, she appeared on the Gottschalk Late Night Show, a German television show with host Thomas Gottschalk. She accepted the contract a few months later, after graduating from school, and decided not to try for an apprentice position at a fashion design school.
Klum has been featured on the cover of French, German, Portuguese and Spanish Vogue magazines, as well as Elle, InStyle, Marie Claire, Glamour and Russian Harper's Bazaar magazines. She became widely known after appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and for her work with Victoria's Secret as an "Angel". Klum hosted the 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows.
In addition to working with well-known photographers on her first husband's Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object and subject of Joanne Gair body painting works in several editions from 1997 to 2010. She wrote the foreword to Gair's book of body paint work, Body Painting, Masterpieces. Other magazine's covers include GQ, Cosmopolitan, Photo, Glamour, Stuff, Joy, Esquire, Max, Men's Journal, Time and Shape.
Klum's modeling work includes advertising campaigns for brands like Pringle of Scotland, Liz Claiborne and – alongside fellow German supermodels Nadja Auermann, Veruschka von Lehndorff and Tatjana Patitz – for the New York jersey label Kathleen Madden. Beauty campaigns include makeup brands Bobbi Brown and Astor, as well as Givenchy's Amarige fragrance. She also appeared in special ad campaigns by designers like Marc Jacobs (Protect The Skin You′e In to raise awareness for skin cancer) and Jean-Paul Gaultier (summer tote in collaboration with and to benefit amfAR). Her runway appearances include numerous Victoria's Secret Annual Fashion Shows, walking for various designers and brands of New York Fashion Week like Zac Posen (2004), Escada, Vera Wang, Structure, Victor Alfaro, Imitation Of Christ as well as working the catwalk for Philip Treacy at Brown Thomas International Fashion Show in Dublin.
As a photo model she worked for retail clothing brands such as H & M, Ann Taylor and Peek & Cloppenburg and since 2007, she has been a celebrity spokesmodel for Jordache. International tech, food and internet brands up to the automotive industry asked for Klum as their celebrity spokesperson and produced ad campaigns and TV commercials for Braun epilizer, McDonald's salad, Dannon, Carl's Jr./Hardee's (Jim Beam Bourbon Burger), the Wix website building program and, together with then-husband Seal for the Volkswagen SUV Tiguan. In addition to modeling, she has appeared in several TV shows, including Spin City, Sex and the City, Yes, Dear, and How I Met Your Mother. She had a role as an ill-tempered hair model in the movie Blow Dry, played a giantess in the movie Ella Enchanted and was cast as Ursula Andress in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. She had cameo appearances in the films The Devil Wears Prada and Perfect Stranger.
Her other projects include dance and video games. She is featured in the 2003 video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, where she plays the villain Dr. Katya Nadanova. She has appeared in several music videos, including Jamiroquai's video "Love Foolosophy" from their album A Funk Odyssey, Kelis's "Young, Fresh n' New", off her second 2001 album Wanderland and, most recently, the second video for her then husband Seal's song "Secret" off his 2010 album Seal 6: Commitment. The latter video depicts the married couple sharing intimate moments while naked in bed; the concept was Klum's idea.
In July 2007, having earned US$8 million in the previous 16 months, Klum was named by Forbes as third on the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels.
In 2008, Forbes estimated her income at US$16 million, putting Klum in first place. For 2007, Forbes estimated her income at US$14 million. Klum is signed to IMG Models in New York City. In 2008, Klum was a featured guest on an American Volkswagen commercial, where she was interviewed by a black Beetle. When she commented that German engineering is so sexy, she caused the Beetle to blush and turn red. She has been a part of several commercials for Volkswagen and McDonald's on German television. In November 2008, Klum appeared in two versions of a Guitar Hero World Tour commercial, wherein she did a take on Tom Cruise's iconic underwear dancing scene in Risky Business. In both versions, she lip-synced to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" while dancing around the living room with the wireless guitar controller.
In October 2009, Klum was the often-nude one-woman subject of Heidilicious, a photo book by photographer Rankin. Klum ventured into web-based videos, starring in "SPIKED HEEL: Supermodels Battle the Forces of Evil". The web-series starred model Coco Rocha and was directed by fashion documentarian Doug Keeve. In the story, Klum aka 'The Kluminator,' and her stylish sidekick Coco "The Sassy Superhero" Rocha battle the evil Dr. Faux Pas who is plotting to destroy Fashion Week. The heroines employ everything from blow-dryer guns to fist fights, to thwart Dr. Faux Pas' dastardly plans. The Kluminator and Girl Wonder avoid a chain of fashion disasters to neutralize a death ray that threatens to vaporize the community of fashionistas gathered in Bryant Park. In 2010, Klum became the new face and creative advisor for European cosmetics brand Astor, for which she sets artistic direction and designs new products and fashion forward color collections. In October 2010, Klum parted ways with Victoria's Secret after 13 years of working with the brand. She provided a simple explanation in her official statement, stating: "All good things have to come to an end. I will always love Victoria and never tell her secret. It's been an absolute amazing time!"