Former Victoria’s Secret model Bianca Balti has revealed she was turned down by the lingerie giant after boldly offering to walk in this year’s Fashion Show.
Balti, 40, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year and underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2022 after learning she carries the BRCA1 gene, shared the story in a deeply personal Substack essay titled ‘I Asked Victoria’s Secret to Let Me Walk.’
The Italian model, once a fixture on the same runway as Gisele Bündchen and Adriana Lima, said she reached out to company executives directly in hopes of representing women fighting illness while celebrating beauty and confidence after treatment.
She claims being able to take part on the show would have been a moment symbolizing strength and survival for women battling cancer.
‘I reached out to Victoria’s Secret and offered myself to walk in this year’s Fashion Show,’ she wrote. ‘I stand for every woman who faces cancer and still dares to feel beautiful.’
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model said the idea struck her when she saw an Instagram post announcing that the iconic fashion show once defined by its ultra-glamorous ‘Angels’, was making its return on October 15.
The date marks exactly a year and a day since her first chemotherapy session and she claims the coincidence felt cosmic.
‘Life doesn’t script moments this aligned by accident,’ she wrote. ‘On October 14th, I celebrate one year since my first chemotherapy session. On October 15th, your show returns – during Breast Cancer Awareness Month,’ she wrote in a letter to Victoria’s Secret bosses.
The Italian model said she reached out to company executives directly in hopes of representing women fighting illness while celebrating beauty and confidence after treatment
Bianca Balti is pictured at the 10th Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2005
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Bianca Balti revealed in September 2024 she was diagnosed with cancer after checking herself into the hospital over excruciating ‘abdominal pain’
Balti described her decision to email anyone she could find at the company, even searching LinkedIn for addresses.
In it, she praised the brand’s recent efforts to diversify its image and urged them to include women like her: cancer survivors, women with scars and those still redefining their bodies.
‘Inclusivity means making your audience feel seen,’ she wrote. ‘One in three women will face cancer in their lifetime. One in eight will face breast cancer. Thousands will face ovarian cancer. I am one of them.’
Balti, who first walked the Victoria’s Secret runway in 2005, said she was inspired by the new generation of models including Precious Lee, Ashley Graham, and trans and plus-size performers who have reshaped the brand’s standards of beauty.
‘Representation isn’t optional for me either,’ Balti wrote. ‘I’m not the youngest, curviest, or fittest. But I am strong, brave, and alive – and I’m still damn sexy. I wear my scars proudly and rock my newly grown hair with pride,’ she went on.
The model said she wanted to walk not to reclaim a career milestone, but to represent millions of women whose sense of self has been tested by illness.
‘Having me on that runway wouldn’t just be a personal dream fulfilled; it would send a message: ‘Life goes on in the face of adversity. You are not less of a woman. You are whole. You are sexy. You are unstoppable.’
According to Balti, the company ultimately replied courteously but declined.
Balti, 40, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year and underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2022 after learning she carries the BRCA1 gene
Balti, who first walked the Victoria’s Secret runway in 2005, said she was inspired by the new generation of models including Precious Lee, left, and Ashley Graham, right
Bianca Balti is seen as a 20-year-old during the 10th Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2005
She shared a health update in a touching Instagram post to mark World Cancer Day on February 4
‘Victoria’s Secret replied kindly: ‘Thank you so much, but it doesn’t work this year,’ she wrote. ‘And that’s okay. The show was already cast.’
Balti said she felt no bitterness – only pride in having tried.
‘I made this bold move because ever since I got sick, I’ve felt a responsibility to bring hope to women with cancer and everyone learning to live again after hardship,’ she said.
‘Cancer taught me that life is too short not to try – and that trying never kills you.’
In September 2024, Balti revealed she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer after checking herself into the hospital over excruciating ‘abdominal pain’.
She announced her devastating diagnosis in an Instagram post in which she admitted it had been a week ‘full of fear, pain and tears’.
The mother-of-two revealed that upon checking into the emergency room she discovered she had stage 3C ovarian cancer, which meant that the disease had spread to the outside of the pelvis.
She completed her chemotherapy treatment in January. Since her diagnosis, Balti has used her platform to encourage openness about cancer and body image.
She has appeared bald on television, shared her surgical journey publicly, and received letters from women and children thanking her for giving them courage.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show continued its own triumphant revival as it marked its second year back after a six-year hiatus that nearly spelled doom for the iconic lingerie brand
Bianca completed her chemotherapy treatment in January amid her ovarian cancer battle
Bianca Balti is seen at Fendi fashion show during the Milan last month
Italian model Bianca Balti poses before the Ferragamo collection show at Milan’s Fashion Week
‘When I co-hosted a TV show this winter, I did it bald,’ she recalled. ‘Children sent me drawings. Women messaged to say they finally felt brave enough to go without a wig.’
Her advocacy, she wrote, is now as much a part of her identity as her modeling career.
‘We don’t just want to survive; we want to thrive,’ Balti wrote. ‘Thriving means joy, confidence, intimacy, and the courage to look in the mirror and see not just scars, but strength.’
Balti ended her essay with gratitude towards her doctors, her supporters, and even the brand that turned her down.
She noted that Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day, known as BRA Day, falls the same week as the Victoria’s Secret show – a fitting reminder of what truly holds and supports women through healing, she said.
‘We are your audience. We are your customers. We are your sisters, mothers, and daughters,’ she wrote to Victoria’s Secret.
‘And we would be so proud to see ourselves represented – bold, beautiful, and alive.’
