Romee Strijd will not be part of the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The 31-year-old Dutch model, a former Angel, explained in two TikTok videos on Monday 12 October that she had been rejected after weeks of waiting for an answer from the brand’s casting team. Her account has since been widely shared among fans of the show.
Strijd walked in the show every year from 2014 to 2018, and in her final appearance she wore the Shooting Star Swarovski look in the finale. She said she had trained over the summer and travelled to New York in September for casting, feeling the time was right to return after having two children. Although she knew the casting director and some of the team from an earlier shoot, the casting group was new, and she still had to audition like everyone else.
She told followers she had expected a quick response. Instead, five weeks after the casting she still had no decision and had been placed on what she called a “maybe list”. Strijd said she repeatedly asked her agency, IMG, for updates and found the wait mentally draining, especially while balancing family life with two young children. She had kept training in case a late booking came through, since fashion line-ups can change at the last minute.
A couple of hours after her first video, she posted a second one. Her agency had told her the answer was a definite no and that the brand felt she would not fit in the show this year. When she pressed for a reason, she was told she had already been released, which she said contradicted earlier messages. Strijd said rejection is part of modelling, but added that she did not feel supported by her agency and would not audition for the show again. Her two videos together set out the full timeline of the casting process.
The 2026 show takes place on Sunday 18 October. Ten models have been confirmed so far: Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, Paloma Elsesser, Imaan Hammam, Anok Yai, Candice Swanepoel, Ashley Graham, Abby Champion, Alex Consani and Devyn Garcia. Strijd said she wanted to hold on to the good memories of her years on the runway rather than let this episode define her time with the brand. Her account has drawn attention to how casting decisions are communicated to models.
