Heidi Klum Responds to Being Called a Cougar, Talks PDA with Boyfriend Vito Schnabel

Heidi Klum is opening up about her relationship with Vito Schnabel and being called a cougar as he is 13 years younger than her.

The 43-year-old model is on the cover of Ocean Drive‘s December 2016 issue, in which she talks about getting caught flaunting PDA with Vito, going topless on the beach, and more. Check it out:

On being called a cougar: “It’s not about age. We have an amazing connection, we have fun together, and we love each other. It doesn’t matter what people say. As long as you know when you close your door in your own home, you have an amazing time together. That’s really all that matters.”

On being a fan of going topless: “I grew up going to nude beaches with my parents, so I’m a nudist. I have no problems with nudity at all. I’m very free. When I go to the beach, it’s in a very remote place where there are not a lot of people, and I like to go topless.”

On getting caught by the paparazzi and PDA: “I’m not doing PDA on the beach with tons of people. I go on a boat or I take a hike somewhere. If you would zoom out in the places where I’m with my boyfriend, there’s nobody there. Unfortunately, paparazzi always follow us, in a helicopter or they hang behind a bush or a boat and they come up with scuba gear. But to the outside world, it looks like we’re frolicking on the beach having a show in front of everyone.”

Click inside to read more of what Heidi Klum said in the issue…

On the best fitting bras: “I love a natural shape. I don’t love big pushup bras and boobs right under your neck! That was yesterday. I thought we need to do something different for the super sexy girls who have lots of pushup bras but also love no lining inside, where it’s all lace. My whole slogan, what I tell my design team, is always “more boobs, less bra.”

On the biggest criticism she’s received: “That I’m too curvy. Too feminine. I got that a lot. That I should be skinnier. And that I’m not edgy enough and a little too happy half of the time. Everyone was always telling me maybe I should skip a meal or I should go on these [diet] pills. I just always stuck to my guns and thought either they want me the way I am or this is not the right job for me.”

On insecurity: “When you’re a normal girl from a small town and no one really takes note of you, and then all of a sudden you’re walking down a catwalk in your lingerie and on the cover of Sports Illustrated and all these people are turning their heads when you go into a restaurant and pointing their finger at you saying, ‘She’s not as pretty in person as she is in photos,’ you get a little insecure. You always get judged, so you have to learn how to handle that.”