He’s a Formula 1 mogul. She’s a supermodel. Attention as well as headlines were guaranteed and they knew it. But what started as a passionate and explosive high-profile romance ended in the worst way, with alleged infidelities and a questionable paternity decision. In 2003 Heidi Klum The relationship began with Flavio Briatore, executive advisor to the French Alpine team raced by Franco Colapinto, But everything fell apart when she discovered, while five months pregnant, that he had been unfaithful to her. However, 20 years later, the story has taken a completely unexpected turn.
In 2003, while serving as Renault’s sporting director and establishing himself as one of the most influential people in Formula 1, Flavio Briatore began a relationship with German model Heidi Klum. For them, the age difference – He is 33 years older than her. – It was a simple detail and despite their busy schedules and how difficult it is to maintain a long distance relationship, they found a way to make things work. They were two famous people and millionaires moving like fish in water in two of the most selective and exclusive environments in the world.
But the intensity of the relationship led to things deteriorating very quickly and in the worst way. In early 2004, the model was 30 years old. She was in her fifth month of pregnancy When he discovered that his partner was unfaithful. Pictures emerged of the 53-year-old mogul kissing another woman. “With a three-kilometer telephoto lens, any greeting feels like a kiss,” Briatore stated several years later in a media interview. Corriere della Sera. Before the relationship began, he had other reported hookups, including one with a supermodel Naomi CampbellBetween 1998 and 2003. They got engaged but not at the altar.
While they were expecting their first daughter, couple Heidi and Flavio separated. Two months later, she began a relationship with British musician Seal Henry Olomide. On May 4, 2004, the former host of Runway project She gave birth to her daughter, Helen “Lenny” Klum. He decided to give him his last name, because Briatore was not present at his birth nor during the first days of his life. From the beginning, Seal took on the role of father and five years later gave him his last name. The musician and model were married between 2005 and 2014 and have three children: Henry Samuel (20), Johan (19) and Lou (16).
Klum and Briatore’s relationship ended in the worst way, and this tension also carried over into the father-daughter bond, which had been non-existent for years. The distance — he lived in London and the model in Los Angeles — became “insurmountable.” “Leni is my biological daughter, but the three of us quietly agreed that it made more sense for Ciel to adopt her.Because the child needs to grow in the family. “But I see that she, Seal, Heidi and I have an exceptional relationship,” the Italian mogul said during an interview with Corriere della Sera In 2016. While she revealed that she had been speaking to her daughter on the phone for two hours, it “wasn’t enough.” “It’s hard to miss a girl you’ve never met before. I know she is not an abandoned daughter. “Lenny is from Seal’s family, and Nathan is from my family,” he stressed. The Italian did not fully experience fatherhood until 2010, when he was born. Nathan FalcoThis is as a result of his relationship with Italian actress and TV presenter Elisabetta Gregoracci, whom he married in 2008.
While Leni always knew that Briatore was her biological father, Falco did not know for a long time that he had an older sister. When they decide to tell him, considering he’s the right age, he’s surprised to reveal that he “already knows,” since he Googled it, and that they even follow each other on Instagram.
Something changed in 2018 and the bond between father and daughter began to be rebuilt, or rather built. They spent part of the European summer in Capri, Italy with Elisabetta Gregoracci, Falco, Heidi Klum, her husband Tom Kaulitz, and their children. “I adore Leni and I’m so proud of her, she was recently featured on the cover of a magazine Vogue Germany. She is not only beautiful, but also strong, independent, and has a zest for life. Although I don’t take any credit for it and I thank Heidi for the way she raised me. The problem with our relationship is distance, because she lives in Los Angeles. The real father who raised her is Ciel and I have a good relationship with him. I don’t have the same day-to-day relationship with her as I do with Falco, that makes sense. But that doesn’t mean I love her less.Briatore noted in an interview with Republic In 2022.
Leni inherited her passion for modeling from her mother.. The young woman said: “I always went to work with my mother and thought: ‘This looks like a lot of fun. She looks very happy while working.” the people In 2022. Although Klum initially tried to stop her from going down this path, it was that rejection that pushed her to pursue that desire. Her first magazine cover was with her mother Vogue Germany In December 2020. Then he began to make his own way and shine alone on the covers of magazines Elle, Glamor, Harper’s Bazaar and Hunger. Likewise, since 2022, she has starred with her mother in several campaigns for Intimissimi, Klum’s lingerie line. Likewise, the 21-year-old has an important presence on the networks. On Instagram, where he introduces himself as Leni Olumi Klum has 1.8 million followers.
Over the past few years, the relationship between Lenny and Briatore has become stronger. In May, the Alpine director shared a photo with his two children on a yacht during the Monaco Grand Prix. But that’s not all because, 20 years after their scandalous breakup, he proposed to Klum to be his partner. In October 2024, they opened Crazy Pizza in New York. His Italian roots and knowledge of the area made the business a buzz, and, they revealed, it would grow. Best ever? And his daughter participated in this success.