Heidi Klum Says 16-Year-Old Daughter Leni is ‘Old Enough Now’ to Model

Heidi Klum said she’s finally ready to let her daughter try modeling.

The supermodel opened up about her 16-year-old girl, Leni, expressing interest in Heidi’s career as a fashion muse during an interview with People on Thursday.

“She’s old enough now,” Heidi, 47, said. “I always thought she was too young. We always also decided to keep the children out of the public eye. But she’s driving a car now, she’s 16, so I figured if you can do that, you can also model now if this is what you wish to do.”

But Leni has a lot of options when it comes to following in her mother’s footsteps, as Heidi is also a well-known TV host and producer. And it appears such gigs have piqued Leni’s interest as well after spending time with her mom on the set of “Germany’s Next Top Model.”

“She kind of comes [on set] and looks and learns not just what I do but also what all the different people are doing on a TV set. I think it’s very interesting to her,” Heidi explained. “When you’re that age you’re still trying to figure out who you are, what you want to be and kind of see for the first time what are all these different jobs to make a TV show happen. She does want to do what I do.”

“Who knows, maybe in five years when I’m not hosting the show anymore maybe it’s going to be like ‘Germany’s Next Top Model’ by Leni Klum instead of Heidi Klum. Who knows,” she added. “She’s kind of playing with this idea.”

Being in the industry as long as Heidi has, she knows there are some challenging aspects that Leni should realize.

“Obviously, as a mother, [I want my] child to do what she wants to do,” the former “Project Runway” host said. “The industry is great and I love it and I’ve been in it for over 20 years but it’s also, it’s a lot of traveling, it’s different. You have to be a strong person, especially as a woman, you have to be very strong.”

Back in April, Heidi confessed Leni is the only one of her four children that was interested in her career. She is also mom to daughter Lou Sulola, 11, son Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo, 14, and son Henry Günther Ademola Dashtu, 15.

But she reiterated that the modeling business is not for the faint of heart.

“It’s definitely a ruthless business,” she told People. “It’s also changed a lot over the years. It was very different when I started in 1992.”