Being a mother is the best thing that ever happened to me. Before you have your first baby you are a girl and then you become a mother. There is no transition into being a woman; you literally become a mum and being a mum means you always love someone else more than yourself and it is an unexplainable situation.

I was shooting a bikini promotion in Mahe in the Seychelles in 1980 when there was a military coup and I, along with a roomful of other people, ended up being kidnapped and held hostage at gunpoint in a windowless room with no ventilation for 36 hours.

My childhood was really comfortable and secure, but school was a nightmare. I was a lot taller than the other girls and they called me Gitte the giraffe.

Once you enter the public's eye, you have to be aware that you give up a huge part of your own life.

People think I'm strong as hard as I look. But I've a very sensitive side and need to be loved by everyone.

Whether you go to Turkey or Mexico, China or Australia, find time to involve yourself with the people you're dealing with.

Who says I'm gonna marry another guy? In Europe it's not like in America, where you set a date.