International lingerie giant Victoria's Secret has announced the latest leggy beauty to earn their Angel wings and she's a self-confessed goof ball from Worksop.
Twenty-nine-year-old Alexina Graham is only the second British model to be given the top tier status at the fashion company and the first ever natural redhead.
A former Valley Comprehensive School pupil, Alexina made her modeling debut in Burberry’s Spring 2009 Campaign and became an instant success, going on to walk the runway for the likes of MaxMara, Brandon Maxwell, Balmain, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giorgio Armani and Zimmerman.
She made her first appearance for Victoria's Secret at its 2017 fashion show in Shanghai, before walking in last year's New York show and shooting the brand’s advertising with Russell James and Jerome Duran.
She revealed her new status as an Angel in a YouTube video, which has been watched nearly 200,000 times.
Larking about in a mocked-up bedroom, Alexina, who now lives in NYC but travels back to see her mum, step-dad, half-sister and nephew and niece in north Nottinghamshire as often as possible, says: "People now want to know what the girl is like behind the canvas.
"I'm from England. The hair's a big part of me, that's my big personality in my hair; the fiery thing going on.
"I'm just being me mainly. Maybe sometimes that's too goofy but that's what I'm like.
"When you first meet a girl they think you're something that you're not but then they realise, yeah, she's OK, she's like not bad."
The model opened up more about this in an interview with Glamour in which she revealed she was bullied for her looks as a child.
"Like most red heads I did get bullied at school because we just stand out. I was this skinny little, geeky thing with no boobs but now I have embraced it as a woman. Having red hair is now a powerful part of my identity," she told the magazine.
Posting a screen shot of the article on her official Instagram page, where 553,000 people follow her, she commented: "Haters are going to hate but guess what, it only makes them miserable.
"Be strong around haters, they don’t need to be part of your life. Ignore them and block them out. Keep being you and don’t change yourself for anyone!
"Be confident. Don’t listen to any negative comments that anyone has to say about you. Be a powerful woman or man, no matter what! Be kind to people always, smile at people and kill them with kindness."
Alexina started studying ballet when she was six years old. Dance was her introduction to modeling, by teaching her to move her limbs, look elegant and understand how to be in front of a camera and connect with it. She then went on to participate in a theatre group at the age of fifteen. Singing in public gave her the confidence to pursue modeling.
She made the leap as a way to save money for university while studying for her A-levels, The Sun reports.
Alexina, who often refers to herself as Aunty Xina in Instagram posts with her twin nephew and niece, has shot advertising for brands such as Burberry, Balmain, Brunello Cucinelli, Aquascutum, Sportmax Code, Brooks Brothers, and L’Oreal... but the modelling superstar is still keeping her feet on the ground despite her new wings, posting a make-up free selfie yesterday with an unattributed quote saying "Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you".
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