Helene Boshoven Samuel is the daughter of German-American supermodel Heidi Klum and biological father Flavio Briatore, an accomplished businessman and the former Renault F1 team manager. She is known by the name Leni Klum.
Like her mother, Heidi Klum, Helene Boshoven Samuel is also a model. She was featured in Vogue.
Let's find out more about Helene Boshoven Samuel.
Helene Boshoven Samuel Relationship With Family Member
Helene Boshoven Samuel is the daughter of Heidi Klum and Seal Samuel. Her biological father is Flavio Briatore.
Helene's parents Heidi Klum, and Flavio Briatore, were dating at one period, and Heidi announced her pregnancy in December 2003. During her pregnancy, she was dating Seal Samuel. Heidi and Flavio got split within a week because Flavio cheated on her several times. After dating for a year, Seal and Heidi got hitched in May 2005.
Klum, Seal, and Briatore agreed to allow Seal to be the father figure in Helene's life. Flavio, in the meantime, arranged for a press release and told an Italian newspaper:
"Leni is my natural daughter, but the three of us happily agreed that it made more sense if Seal adopted her because a child needs to grow up in a family."
Seal officially adopted Helene in December 2009, and her name was legally changed to Helene Samuel. Heidi later clarified that Flavio is in no way involved in the life of Leni and also stated emphatically that 'Seal is Leni's father.' Seal later praised Flavio for maintaining distance from Leni and for not disrupting her life.
Leni Klum (during her childhood) with her mother, Heidi Klum (©: Instagram/Leni Klum)
Seal and Klum got a divorce in January 2012 after seven years of marriage. After divorcing Klum, Seal still takes care of her adopted daughter Helene.
It is reported that Helene doesn't have a relationship with her biological father, Flavio. Flavio once revealed:
"It's hard to miss a baby that you never see. But I know that Leni is not an abandoned child. Leni is part of Seal's family, and Nathan is part of mine."
Although Helene is not close to her biological father, she is close to Helene and her adopted father, Seal Samuel.
Helene Boshoven Samuel Debuted As A Model At The Age Of 16
Helene Boshoven Samuel was only 12 or 13 years old when Brandy Melville offered her a model. But her mother, Heidi Klum, rejected the brand as she was too young. She allowed Helene to enter the modeling phase when she was 16-years-old. Helena then debuted as a model through the magazine Vogue at the age of 16.
You Might Also Like: Heidi Klum Reveals Her Daughter Leni Klum Is Interested In Fashion Modeling
In an interview with people.com in December 2020, the German supermodel Heidi said about Helena:
"She's old enough now. 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."
Apart from modeling, Helene is an Instagram Influencer with more than 555 thousand followers on the social platform.
Is Helene Boshoven Samuel (Leni Klum) Adopted?
Helene Boshoven Samuel is the daughter of the American-German model Heidi Klum. She was born on 4 May 2004 in New York. Seal Samuel adopted Helene in 2009. Her biological father is Flavio Briatore, who is an Italian businessman.
Helene has three siblings, brothers Henry Günther Ademola Dashtu (born in 2005) and Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo (born 2006), and sister Lou Sulola (born 2009).