Victoria’s Secret has recruited its first ginger angel. Alexina Graham, who is not Scottish but looks as if she should be, is the first natural redhead to join the elite team of lingerie models.
It’s a big, rude gesture to the haters who made her schooldays miserable and bullied her because of the colour of her hair.
The 29-year-old told Glamour magazine: “Like most redheads, 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. It took me a long time to get here.
(Image: Timur Emek/FilmMagic)
“When I first did the Victoria’s Secret show in Shanghai in 2017, I had so many messages from children.
“One woman said that her child got bullied at school and she showed her my Instagram to prove that the bullying doesn’t mean anything and she could achieve whatever she put her mind to. That meant so much to me.”
Alexina is from Worksop, near Nottingham. She now lives in New York but has kept her strong Midlands accent.
Her family are still there and she regularly travels home to see her parents and sister.
She must be the only Victoria’s Secret model to post pictures of herself in a modest terraced house.
(Image: 2018 Edward Berthelot Getty)
As a child, Alexina started ballet and theatre when she was just six and kept the hobbies up for 12 years. Her
Instagram is a testament to her strong moves and, during her first Victoria’s Secret audition in 2017, her routine included the slut drop move that often features in rap videos.
She said at the time: “When I walked off, I couldn’t believe I actually did it. The casting agents then just shouted at the other models, ‘Whoever has to follow her, good luck!’
“They filmed the whole thing, so if that video comes out, it’s going to be very embarrassing for me.”
(Image: 2018 Edward Berthelot Getty)
Last year’s show was Alexina’s second outing for Victoria’s Secret. She rocked a tartan ensemble and manouevered an enormous floral parachute down
he runway.
The first time she tried it on, she burst into tears. She said: “It was so heavy.”
Having walked in two Victoria’s Secret shows, Alexina has now been made an official angel.
She said: “It’s a real mixture of feeling emotional, nervous and excited.”
(Image: Instagram)
Alexina isn’t likely to let the wings go to her head. She still loves her mum’s home cooking, especially her childhood favourite of rice with peas. Her favourite drink is PG Tips with milk.
Alexina plans to use her angel status to reach out to gingers everywhere.
She told Glamour: “Being a redheaded angel means I get to put redheads out there more.
“Being an angel is part of having that media outreach so that I can say to young redhead kids, ‘You can do anything you want. Nothing is impossible’.”
