Kylie Bisutti grew up in Las Vegas, dreaming about one day walking the runway as a model. Years later, her dream came true when she beat out 10,000 women in 2009’s Victoria’s Secret Angel Search which aired on CBS leading up to that year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Following her VS debut, Kylie’s modeling career took off but the direction it went wasn’t in compliance with her religious views, so she quit. Now, Kylie has written a book, opening up about the dark side of the modeling industry and why she retired at the height of her career.
In the book, titled I’m No Angel: From Victoria’s Secret Model To Role Model, Kylie recalls how exploited she felt during her modeling career. “I felt like a piece of meat,” Kylie told The NY Post.
Kylie moved to New York as a 5’10” 15-year-old, naive to the expectations of the modeling industry. “I was so desperate to succeed in the business that I complied when my agent told me, ‘All models have a topless shot,'” she says. “I was only 16 when I posed for mine.”
^ Victoria’ Secret catalog photo shoot featuring Kylie Bisutti on the beaches of St. Barths December 9, 2009. (Photo: TRB/Fame Pictures)
“One of my [model] roommates was so bulimic, she would involuntarily throw up when she ate,” Kylie remembers. “She would go to sleep crying every night and just look at herself in the mirror thinking that she was so fat. And she was so thin.” At the time, Kylie was also very thin, weighing in at just 108 pounds and living off a diet of watermelon, pineapple and water.
During her rough years as a young model in New York, a friend took Kylie to a church youth group were she found God and was inspired to become a practicing Christian. It was a decision that felt right for Kylie, but her modeling career seemed to interfere with her new beliefs.
Once she won the Victoria’s Secret competition, Kylie became a highly coveted model, but after posing in a sheer bikini which later ended up on a porn site, she knew that where her career was headed wasn’t something that would honor her God.
After meeting and marrying her now-husband Mike Bisutti in Mexico, things really started to take a turn for the worse. According to Kylie, Victoria’s Secret encouraged her to pretend to be single and flirt with other men. “A lot of models don’t talk about their relationships unless they’re married to a celebrity, like Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom, which is more of a draw to the brand,” she reveals.
Then came the final straw — a shoot for FHM in which the photographer instructed her to pull up her shirt and hold the sheets around her as if she was panty-less. “I was being paid to strip down and pose provocatively to titillate men,” she said. “It wasn’t about modeling clothes anymore; I felt like a piece of meat.” The very next day, Kylie decided to quit the business.
After she left modeling for good, the offers continued to pour in (she was offered the cover of Sports Illustrated‘s Swimsuit issue and a spot on Dancing With The Stars), but Kylie remains confident in her decision.
Currently, Kylie and her husband Mike are living in Montana where Kylie is happy being a homebody — even though she likely lost out on millions. “Just last night, we canned 40 jars of fresh pasta sauce,” she says. And next month, Kylie will launch a Christian clothing line which will be modeled by women of all sizes.
“Beauty isn’t about what you look like,” Kyle states. “It’s about what’s in your heart. That’s the most important thing.”
