Do you still get nervous about big business meetings?

Do I get nervous? I care. I like to be clear about what I want to achieve before a meeting. And I usually go with a game plan.

Would you say you have a natural business brain?

If I don’t know how to handle a situation I’ll call someone. A lot of people find it humiliating to ask for help but I find it liberating. When I was younger the thing I found most frustrating was that I had ideas that I didn’t know how to put into play. It was only when I left my modelling agency and started up on my own that things changed.

Was it a daunting experience, leaving a major company and going it alone?

It was scary with my lingerie business in the beginning and it certainly wasn’t very financially rewarding at first. A lot of people thought it was a stupid thing to do because back then it was pretty unorthodox in the sense that I didn’t take a fee up-front, I took a fee at the back end. Models didn’t do that – someone wanted you so you showed up and they paid you. I didn’t realise at the time I was being entrepreneurial.

What was it that drove you?

I was willing to take a risk and try something new because I wanted a different type of future. I didn’t want to depend on being ‘in fashion’ or making sure I was the girl of the moment in order to get work. I wanted to create something that would keep generating income whether I was in bed or out of bed that day. Not that I was ever in bed (laughs).

How has modelling changed since when you first started?

There’s a lot of human intervention in photographs today. When it was just film there was only the photographer, the model, the light and the moment. But it was a different era. Wall Street was booming. America was booming. Guys showed their financial successes and models were huge and statuesque. We had shoulder pads back then, for God’s sake (laughs).

Why do you think the supermodel became such a success?

A lot of it came down to a lull in the film industry. Women in the movies at that time didn’t see how beauty and glamour and intelligence could come together and make them feel valued. In the Fifties and Sixties you had Marilyn Monroe and Betty Davis, women that played up their sexuality. Come the Eighties, women didn’t want to be so contrived and so there was a thirst for glamour. Models didn’t just do runway or beauty anymore; they were celebrities that did talk shows and music videos. There was a blending of all these things and that was the supermodel and everyone knew her name.

Do you still see many of the girls?

I see Claudia (Schiffer) every day. Her son goes to the same school as mine. I keep in touch with Paulina Porizkova, who was my roommate when I started modelling.

What’s the secret of juggling work commitments and raising a family?

I don’t know (laughs). Some people accuse me of being scheduled out of my mind, but there’s nothing wrong with having a plan – you can always break it. Work is important but first and foremost it’s raising my boys.

How do you unwind?

Hanging with my boys, reading and listening to music. And I like sport. I’m like a jock, the kind of person that will get up on holiday at 6am and surf, paddleboard, then go snorkelling, then go for a run, then do a yoga class. I just love the community of sport. I often go to an old-fashioned men’s sweatbox gym where you just do circuit training and sit-ups and push-ups – that’s really fun.

Is there a pressure to stay slim when you’re known as ‘The Body’?

If only it was as easy as that. “Oh, I won’t eat this piece of chocolate because I’m The Body!” (laughs). No, The Body’s important to me because I built a business around it. And also, The Body is the mind, the spirit and the soul. It doesn’t have to be 20 years old – it’s just me, making the most of the woman I am today.

See the final of Britain’s Next Top Model on Monday, 4 October at 9pm on Living TV

Elle: The perfect business model