Victoria’s Secret Hit With Wild Nepo-Baby Controversy

The iconic Victoria’s Secret fashion show is at the center of a major controversy.

The underwear giant faces a growing backlash mere days before its annual runway show on Sunday, Oct. 18, with the company’s casting choices—including a purported move toward hiring nepo-baby models—at the center of the fuss.

Model Romee Strijd, a regular face in the Victoria’s Secret runway shows from 2014 to 2018, posted two TikTok videos on Monday discussing her experience with the brand.

Romee Strijd was promoted from a Victoria’s Secret model to an Angel in 2015. Pictured here backstage ahead of the 2016 fashion show in Paris, France.

In the first TikTok video, the 31-year-old Dutch model said many people had asked whether she would be in the upcoming show.

Strijd became an Angel, a contract model and spokesperson for the brand, in 2015 and walked the finale of the 2018 show with Swarovski wings.

That was the final show before Victoria’s Secret paused its runway shows because of plummeting ratings and multiple controversies.

Romee Strijd, seen here on the runway in 2018, wore Swarovski wings that weighed 27 pounds.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret

The shows were revived in 2024, and Strijd, now a mother of two, decided to try out for the 2026 show.

The model said she spent the summer preparing her body and flew to New York City for casting in the first week of September.

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But in the following five to six weeks, she said she heard nothing: “I kept asking my agency for updates, but apparently I’m still on that ‘maybe’ list.”

With Strijd’s participation still “a big question mark” just six days before the show, she kept training and preparing, admitting the process was “a bit of a roller coaster mentally.”

Romee Strijd was teary-eyed when she told her fans she wasn’t cast in the 2026 Victoria’s Secret show.

Soon after posting the first video, Strijd sat down for a second TikTok video.

This time, she was teary-eyed as she revealed she had just been told she wouldn’t be walking the show.

“My agency just called, and I said, like, ‘Okay, what’s happening?’ And she said, “Yeah, you know, you look great, blah, blah. But they thought you wouldn’t fit in the show this year,’” Strijd said.

Romee Strijd modeling in her last Victoria’s Secret show in November 2018 in New York City.

She then explained her frustration with the mixed signals she felt she was getting from her agency about how the casting process had proceeded: “They kept me in the dark… Not knowing for so long… I got a lot of mental stress from it.“

Strijd said this would close the Angel chapter for her.

“I don’t think I’m gonna cast anymore in the future, because I don’t like the way it went,” she said. “I don’t like how the whole process went. I don’t like the way I was treated. And I would love to keep the positive memories of VS.”

The Daily Beast reached out to Victoria’s Secret for comment but did not hear back before publication.

Romee Strijd and other Victoria’s Secret models celebrate at the end of the 2017 fashion show in Shanghai, China, in November 2017.

Commenters were shocked that Victoria’s Secret decided not to move forward with Strijd.

“Doesn’t fit with the show?! You ARE the show,” one person commented. Another added, “The fact that they’re gonna put influencers in the show instead of actual Angels is insane.”

Fans were shocked that Romee Strijd wasn’t cast in the fashion show.

The discourse spread across multiple platforms, where some furious fans were threatening to boycott the show.

Under one viral Instagram post, a fan wrote, “What people don’t understand is that Romee wasn’t just a girl who walked the VS runway; she was an Angel. She was literally selected to be the face of the brand, and this is how she’s now treated?”

Fans were shocked by Romee Strijd’s story.

The comment got over 35,000 likes in under 24 hours.

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On Reddit, one person wrote, “Seems like they’re more focusing on early 20s TikTok stars, influencers, and models that are very big on social media now.”

Some commenters also called out the brand for hiring celebrity offspring, including nepo-baby Amelia Gray.

Amelia Gray made her Victoria’s Secret runway debut in 2025, and she is scheduled to return for the 2026 show.

Gray, 25, is the daughter of Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna.

Last year, the show was also walked by Jude Law’s and Sadie Frost’s 5-foot-5 daughter, Iris Law, 25. Kate Moss’s daughter Lila Moss, 24, also strutted down the runway in 2024 and in 2025.

Kris Jenner’s daughter Kendall Jenner, 30, and Yolanda Hadid’s daughters Gigi, 31, and Bella, 30, are all show regulars.

Angels Elsa Hosk, Adriana Lima, and Candice Swanepoel were cast in the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Although Strijd will not return to the runway on Sunday, other long-time Angels will strut: most notably, Adriana Lima, the brand’s longest-running Angel since 2000.

Other Angels include Candice Swanepoel, who earned her wings in 2010, and Elsa Hosk, an Angel since 2015.

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Roosa RahkonenReporter, The LookerGot a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.

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