Paulina Porizkova Says the ‘Easiest Way’ to Approach Uncomfortable Modeling Jobs Was to ‘Do as You’re Told’

Paulina Porizkova is opening up about the emotional toll of her early life and career, revealing how a difficult childhood shaped her experience in the modeling industry.

Speaking on the Tuesday, April 7, episode of Twenty Good Summers podcast with fiancé Jeff Greenstein, the Czech-born beauty said she began modeling at age 15 and by that age she was already conditioned to prioritize pleasing others.

“The quickest way to get out of a situation was do as you’re told,” she said, per Fox News Digital. “And if that meant taking my top off and if that meant doing x,y, and z, well, then I just did that because that was the easiest way to get through it and also to please people.”

The supermodel traced that mindset back to her upbringing, saying she was raised by parents who “didn’t actually like me unless I performed.”

She recalled being pushed onstage by her father at just 3 years old.

“I remember the lights being so incredibly bright that I couldn’t see my parents, and I couldn’t see anything beyond the stage itself. And I was f**king terrified,” she said. “I was so scared. And I thought, well, the quickest way to get this over and done with is to sing a song.”

Applause, she realized early on, brought approval. “My parents seemed to like me better when I could do things like that,” she admitted.

Now 61, Porizkova said age has brought clarity, adding that the “beauty of getting older is that you kind of figure out who you are, what you’re good at, what you’re bad at.

“And then past 50 for us women who start being invisible anyway, we go, well, you know what? F*** other people’s assumptions and expectations. I’m just going to be who I am. Like, I’m just going to try out to actually be the person that I’ve always known that I was.”

Earlier this year, Porizkova — who made history in 1984 as the first Central European to land a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover — revealed she faced sexual harassment as a teen model, recalling on Instagram encounters with men who “just wanted to take a few casual photos…preferably topless.”

Porizkova is also known for serving as the face of Estée Lauder and appearing as a judge on America’s Next Top Model. She’s also released two books.