Heidi Klum Spills on Her Sexy Marriage, Motherhood and More as She Returns to ‘Project Runway’ (Exclusive)

Heidi Klum steps outside onto the poolside set of her PEOPLE cover shoot and, as if on command, the June gloom clouds part to reveal brilliant blue skies. With her sequin minidress sparkling in the sunlight, the supermodel, 52, tosses her hair back and flashes the smile — and legs — that made her famous.

It’s no secret that Klum greets everything in her orbit with a sunny disposition — and a heavy dose of sex appeal. She’s the ultimate hype woman, whether singing Euro club bangers (on key!) as she bewitches the camera or opening up about a rogue nipple hair that just won’t quit during a wildly candid discussion on aging. She is unapologetically herself. Get on board or Auf Wiedersehen.

“People always say, ‘You probably got more confidence as you’ve gotten older,’ but I have always been confident,” Klum tells PEOPLE in our exclusive cover interview. “I have no problem walking around in my underwear. I’m not hiding in a corner.”

Catalog Queen Turned Supermodel

Living out loud has always been Klum’s philosophy. She was literally dancing through life (she trained as a competitive dancer) in her hometown near Cologne, Germany, when she won a televised model search in 1992 at 19. “At the time, extra-thin was the look to have and I was the opposite. I had boobs and hips, and I couldn’t fit in the clothes. There were definitely a lot of jobs that I couldn’t do that I wanted to do.”

She recalls seeing supermodel icons Claudia Schiffer and Eva Herzigova at castings and “dreaming to reach” their level. “They were always the cool girls because they got all the magazine stuff, and I did cheesier things, the catalog stuff, but catalogs were good because they paid.”

That commercial status and financial stability laid a foundation to allow Klum to keep going despite the demanding landscape. Then in 1998, she reached (if not surpassed!) the level of her supermodel peers after landing the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, which “changed everything” and led to a 13-year run at Victoria’s Secret where she walked in the brand’s fashion shows and earned the title of Angel.

But Heidi’s true superpower was her ability to look beyond the catwalk to cable. In 2004, she started hosting and judging Project Runway, leading to a 16-season run until she stepped back from the show in 2017. She hosted all 20 seasons of Germany’s Next Top Model since its premiere in 2006 and is still at the helm as host, judge and co-producer. Then there was the 11 seasons she sat at the judges table on America’s Got Talent (plus many entrepreneurial ventures and endorsement deals along the way). 

“I’m a workaholic, control freak,” she admits. “I’ve been so focused with the shows that I have been doing and making sure that everything that comes out of them looks good. I love what I do.” 

Now she’s returning to Project Runway alongside familiar faces Nina Garcia and Christian Siriano, and new judge, image architect, Law Roach. Klum says the experience feels like a true homecoming and validation that people still care about the craftsmanship behind clothes. 

“My fashion heart still goes [crazy] when I see something fabulous, when I see an amazing dress, when someone does something new, I’m like, ‘How did you come up with that?’ I’m still amazed at people and their talent.”

A Model Mother 

Klum gave birth to three of her four children — sons Henry, 19, and Johan, 18, and daughter Lou, 15, with ex-husband Seal — while filming the early seasons of Project Runway. She remembers leaking breast milk on set and Michael Kors reminding her to “go pump.” Her firstborn, daughter Leni, 21, from a previous relationship with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, was later adopted by Seal. Klum says she embraced everything about being a mom and often took her place “at the back of the line” to care for kids. 

Today, Klum is still the home base for her family. “I love having a house where they feel safe,” she says. “My son was barbecuing with his friends in the backyard the other day and doing all the things I taught him. It was so cute. For me, it’s always the more, the merrier. I like it when they’re all at home.”

That kind of openness extends to how she’s raised her kids to see their bodies — and hers. In 2023, Klum appeared alongside Leni in a lingerie campaign for Intimissimi, sparking controversy online for the overt tone of sexuality. “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, I don’t know about mom and daughter doing this together,’” she says. “But for us? I’m proud of my daughter. She’s fine with me like that.” She shrugs off any prudishness she’s often up against on social media. “I’ve always been very open with my body. When I’m suntanning in the backyard, I might not have a top on. I’m European …my kids don’t know me any other way and are probably more easygoing with their bodies because of it.”

While Klum’s parenting philosophy is built on transparency, she still spirals like any mom. “When they’re young, you’re worried they’re going to jump in the pool or stick their finger in a socket,” she says. “Then they’re driving. Then it’s sex, drugs and rock and roll. You hope the seed you planted in them grows. That they’re good people. That they’re healthy. But you always worry. And I know I’ll still be worrying when I’m 80.”

Leni has followed in her footsteps since she was 16, now forging a modeling career of her own. Henry made his runway debut in Paris in January, followed by a modeling contract with NEXT Management, drawing praise not just for his looks, but his character. “Sometimes someone will come to me and say, ‘I just met your son. He is the kindest, nicest young man.’ That makes me feel good,” she says. “Because no one has to say that.”

Her kids also come to her for guidance, especially as their careers take shape. “Leni’s learned a lot over the years,” Klum says. “Sometimes she’ll say, ‘Maybe I should have listened to my mom four years ago.’ When you’re young, being cool is everything. So maybe mom’s advice doesn’t always feel cool at the time.”

The Romance That Rewired Her

Klum didn’t go looking for her third husband, Tom Kaulitz. She almost didn’t go out the night she met the German rocker seven years ago. “I really wanted to stay home,” she says, looking back. “But then I gave myself a little kick in the butt.” That small decision — to show up for a friend at a party — became what she now calls “the sliding door moment” of her life. The couple got engaged in December 2018 and married two months later.

The Tokio Hotel founder and guitarist, 35, represented a “clean slate” for the mom of four, who first married celebrity hairstylist Ric Pipino in 1997, followed by a seven-year marriage to musician Seal, which ended in 2012. 

“[At first] I wanted to [project] what I had learned from different men I had been with… like ‘Ooh, this reminds me of something that happened, is that a flag?’” she says of bringing in baggage from past relationships. “But Tom said, ‘Don’t do this to me, because I’m not this person, I’m not that person. Scratch everything. I have to have a fair chance.’”

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The couple’s chemistry is palpable (read: They can’t keep their hands off each other), whether it’s straight-up PDA on the red carpet or glimpses of their more intimate moments at home shared on social media. One of their favorite outings? Shopping for lingerie together. “He loves sitting there, and I go into the changing room and I come out with a different outfit on,” she says, noting that there is zero jealousy between them. “He loves me in a miniskirt. He loves me in pumps. He just loves when I get all dolled up.” They’ve even tattooed their names on one another, Klum saying with a laugh: “His looks much better — so I’m the better tattoo artist.”

While Klum loves the wife life, it hasn’t changed who she is at her core. “This is pretty much what you get. I’m pretty loud and you know I’m there,” she says. She also credits “stolen weekends” away together, “handwritten notes” and the need to be present with one another as what makes their marriage work. Plus, a few things she can’t share, she says with a wink.

The fact that she’s older than Kaulitz by 17 years is something people still like to point out. Klum doesn’t pretend not to notice, but she also doesn’t engage. “When our door closes at home, I don’t really care so much what happens around us,” she says. “I’ve learned things from my husband that I didn’t know I was capable of doing,” she says with a smirk. Safe to say, there’s no seven-year itch. 

Redefining Fifty 

Let it be known — Heidi Klum basically invented the thirst trap.

“I’ve been photographing nude or in lingerie since 1992, way before Instagram,” she says. “So for me, it’s nothing new. For the past 15 years, other people are now doing what I’ve been doing for 30 years. Instead of being in my little bottoms in a magazine, I’m on Instagram. It’s the same thing.”

At 52, Klum has no intention of dialing it back. “For me to be older, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have this age-shaming or body-shaming thing. I feel like everyone should do what they want to do. I like to run around sexy — even now at 52.”

Klum “running around sexy” has been on full display in recent weeks, as she spends her summer vacation island hopping with Kaulitz in tiny bikinis.

“The biggest misconception [about] being in your 50s is that you are off the shelf. You’re not off the shelf,” she says. “We are very much on that shelf for everyone to see. Don’t hide in your 50s. Beauty is ever-changing, and I’m here for the change. If it’s always the same, life is boring.”

Having come up in the hyper-curated world of ‘90s fashion, Klum says she’s genuinely moved by the broader shifts she sees happening in the industry today.

“Now it’s okay to be older — but it didn’t use to be like that,” she says. “I feel like we’re more welcoming of wrinkles and rolls on our body. Being accepted at every age is amazing. That we’ve changed and come all that way.”

Even so, she’s open to cosmetic enhancements (“I’m all for Botox,” she says), and is inspired by the recent wave of celebrities revealing their procedures. “Whoever wants to talk about [plastic surgery] and wants to share, give me all the numbers.”

One aging milestone she hasn’t hit yet is gray hair. At least not on her head. “I have one in my eyebrow. It’s so weird. And I have one on this boob that is this long sometimes,” she reveals.

When gray hair eventually strikes, Klum will welcome it and whatever else comes her way. ”Don’t we all want to get old? I know we always say that, but it’s the truth. I’m already looking at 60 and 70, hopefully 80 and 90. And if we’re still kicking it then, let’s celebrate.”

Stay tuned for more from our exclusive interview and photo shoot with Klum ahead of Project Runway’s hotly anticipated season 21 premiere on Freeform, Hulu and Disney+ starting Thursday, July 31.