She’s graced the covers of high-fashion magazines and enjoyed a stint as a judge on Australia’s Next Top Model, but two months after welcoming her first born, daughter Dahlia, Cheyenne Tozzi says the way in which she views the world has completely changed.
“I’m just super protective of my little girl, and she needs me,” she says.
“It’s not about me any more, I have new priorities.”
“There are always going to be more beautiful, younger models out there – but I’ve learned just to be happy with my success and happy with the way that my life is going and you can’t compare.”
“I think once you start to compare – modelling or not – in life, in general, and then it doesn’t stop, it’s just a vicious cycle. You really have to love you enough, love you enough to keep going.”
Moreover, the Australian beauty tells WHO her self-esteem grew with age, but in reality it shifts from time to time.
“I think it comes and goes. You can always have a sh—y day, but you have to work on yourself, you have to be the best version of you in order to prevail in life.
“The thing is I’m just a human being, so [in the past] I could have had the cover of the magazine and a boy could have broken my heart that same week.”
Nowadays, Tozzi, 29, is not sweating the small stuff and is proud of her body post- childbirth. “I mean, I think after having a baby, I feel way more confident than I ever have – like I did that!”
Since meeting her bundle of joy – whom she shares with Brazilian model boyfriend Marlon Teixeira, 27 – Tozzi has become more conscious of young people and their struggles with anxiety.
“I’ve struggled with anxiety myself,” she admitted. “It makes me so sad that the young girls are so down about themselves.”
“It’s this whole Instagram mentality. I’ve been speaking to a lot of young people at the moment and they’ve got this fixation with influencers. ‘[They say things like] ’This girl’s got this and she looks this…’ That’s creating such a jealousy in this weird world that it’s all such bulls–t.
“Even those girls [who] seem to be perfect have really sh—y days and you don’t know what’s going on in someone’s life – young girls just need to take a step back and realise that it’s really not about ‘look at my hair’ and just be good to one another. Just be a nice person, just be f—ing nice, get over it.”
Asked if she has any advice for Dahlia, Tozzi says: “Just be kind and happy. Hopefully, we can make her happy, but be kind and gentle.”