I gave up modeling for God

I gave up modeling for God
The New York Post
April 23, 2013

Kylie Bisutti had reached the pinnacle of her career as a Victoria’s Secret Angel. But instead of feeling proud, she felt exploited. She tells why she turned to faith after the fashion industry put her through hell

Kylie Bisutti made a stunning debut at the 2009 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Two years later, she refused to pose provocatively. (Photo: WireImage)

Kylie Bisutti, 23, saw her dream come true when she beat 10,000 other girls in the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Angel Search competition. In her forthcoming book, “I’m No Angel,” she reveals why she gave up a multimillion-dollar career for the quiet life in Montana. She tells The Post’s Kate Storey her tale:

 

Photo: Stephen Vosloo

I’m lying on a bed wearing a tight, little T-shirt and boy-cut panty bottoms while camera flashes keep popping away. I’m giving the camera that seductive, bombshell look I’d become famous for.

“Pull the top further up,” the FHM photographer encouraged me. “Hold up the covers like you don’t have any panties on.”

Kylie Bisutti made a stunning debut at the 2009 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Two years later, she refused to pose provocatively.

I didn’t feel comfortable but he kept urging me on.

“This is what Victoria’s Secret models do,” he said. “This is why they hired you. If you want to be like Gisele, this is what you have to do.”

That’s when it hit me. I was being paid to strip down and pose provocatively to titillate men. It wasn’t about modeling clothes anymore; I felt like a piece of meat.

The next day, I broke down and started sobbing. I was in my bedroom and dropped to my knees and started to pray.

“God, why did you have me win the Victoria’s Secret Angel competition if it was going to make me feel this way? I’m not honoring my husband. I just want answers!”

That was two years ago. Today, I’m living in Montana with my husband, enjoying the fresh air and volunteering with our church.

The old me would never have believed that I gave up my career for this quiet, country life. When I was a little girl growing up in Las Vegas, surrounded by billboards of half-dressed women, I dreamed of becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

I thought the models I saw defined beauty, and beauty meant you were important. I would watch the Victoria’s Secret fashion shows at home on TV and imitate the models’ signature struts when I’d walk to my bedroom at night.

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