It\u2019s no secret that Sarah Grossi wants wings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Big Apple transplant, a 22-year-old native of Massachusetts, flew the coop from New England to New York with a singular goal \u2014 to slay amongst the Angels in the Victoria\u2019s Secret Fashion Show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of my biggest dreams,\u201d Grossi, a 2026 NYU grad, exclusively told The Post. \u201cAs a graduating senior in high school, my yearbook quote was, \u2018I want to walk in the Victoria\u2019s Secret Show.\u2019 My NYU application essay centered around my goal to walk in the\u00a0\u00a0Victoria\u2019s Secret Show.\u201d<\/p>\n
The finale walk at Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s 2025 runway show. FilmMagic<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my final college essays, which was like 12 pages, was about the sociology of the Victoria\u2019s Secret Show as a cultural phenomenon and how it\u2019s shaped my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, she might get the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of joining the ranks of\u00a0Shanina Shaik, Naomi Campbell, Jasmine Tookes, Candace Swanepoel, Heidi Klum, Bella and Gigi Hadid and Tyra Banks \u2014 to name a few.<\/p>\n
Grossi is one of a flock of NYC sirens vying for the solo spot as a rookie recruit in the 2026 Victoria\u2019s Secret Fashion Show this fall, after the brand<\/a> opened up applications to the general public. <\/p>\n The application does not explicitly exclude folks of specific heights or weights.\u00a0But is only open to ages 18 to 28. <\/p>\n The casting page for Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s 2026 Angel search.<\/p>\n Along with the chance to strike a pose on the heralded Victoria\u2019s Secret platform, the lucky looker selected to star in the show will also ink an exclusive contract with IMG Models.<\/p>\n The annual spectacle, buxom with bosomy bombshells boasting ginormous feathered wings while modeling bras and bikinis, made a\u00a0controversial comeback in 2024<\/a>\u00a0and 2025 after\u00a0being canceled in late 2019<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gigi Hadid at the 2025 Victoria\u2019s Secret runway show. Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n The six-year hiatus came amid\u00a0a flurry of scandals<\/a>, including ex-Victoria\u2019s Secret chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, saying its main stage\u00a0had no room<\/a>\u00a0for plus-size models, and shocking revelations that Leslie Wexner, the CEO of its former parent company, L Brands,\u00a0enjoyed a close friendship\u00a0<\/a>with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n The diverse pool of women who\u2019ve answered the company\u2019s new casting call, however, are endeavoring to change the negative narrative once and for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n From curvy contenders like Grace, who\u00a0unabashedly bragged\u00a0<\/a>about being invited to Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s second round of casting this week, to Stella Kae, a paralyzed 5-foot-10 pinup who\u00a0put a bid in for the coveted gig\u00a0<\/a>from her wheelchair, nationwide knockouts of all kinds are eagerly entering the running.\u00a0<\/p>\n And Gotham\u2019s most angelic are going full steam ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meet five of NYC\u2019s steamiest, dreamiest Victoria\u2019s Secret Fashion Show candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bookworm-turned-bombshell\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n Kailyn Shepherd grew up as the girl who always got the grade. A scholar best known for scoring \u2014 and standing \u2014 head and shoulders above her peers, the 5-foot-9 New Jersey native excelled in classrooms at boarding school and Amherst College, but secretly longed for life in the limelight as a model.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was an unspoken desire Shepherd suppressed for years until 2023, when she introduced her innate modeling talents online, proving to the world that a girl can succeed with both beauty and brains.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was tired of being put into a box by society,\u201d Shepherd, 25, based in the East Village, told The Post. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to model, but so many people look down on it as a trivial profession. But I knew I had a gift, so I started posting my walk on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n Footage of her saucy swagger caught the eye of trendy fashion houses, landing Shepherd spots on New York- and London Fashion Week walkways.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cBut once I became a model, that\u2019s all people saw \u2014 a pretty face,\u201d she groaned. \u201cMy education, my opinions didn\u2019t matter.\u201c<\/p>\n Shepherd hopes to turn the tide by scoring the Victoria\u2019s Secret post.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeing the next Angel would hopefully give me the chance to show young women, especially young black women, that you don\u2019t have to choose between being smart and being sexy, you can be both,\u201d she gushed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can be all the things \u2014 feminine, fierce and intelligent on the runway.\u201d<\/p>\n The fit centerfold\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n Sarah Grossi doesn\u2019t fold under pressure. She thrives under it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPhysical and mental health are really important to me,\u201d said the aspiring teen therapist. \u201cI really admired Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s \u2018Train Like an Angel\u2019 campaign, showing how committed their models are to truly being athletes and working out in, like, such healthy ways.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019ve started challenging myself with some really big fitness goals.\u201d<\/p>\n The 5-foot-10 stunner \u2014 who\u2019s filmed her submission video in Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s flagship store on Fifth Avenue \u2014 recently took up running. She\u2019s completed six half-marathons in the past year and was a shoo-in for the second phase of the casting<\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m doing this big challenge as, like, a solo female hiker soon. I also like snowboard, ski and surf,\u201d said Grossi. \u201cI want to encourage young girls to move their bodies in healthy ways, to commit to athletics and setting goals that boost their self-esteem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a tall girl in school, I didn\u2019t get a lot of attention from guys,\u201d she added. \u201cBut my fitness and Victoria\u2019s Secret journeys have helped me find inner confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The versatile vixen<\/strong><\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n Adapting comes as second nature to Devyn Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 23-year-old Los Angeles transplant, who identifies as mixed race, has had to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings and unwelcoming people her entire life. But the adversities she faced as a product of a \u201cbroken home\u201d gave the belle the gusto to go after her dreams \u2014 even in the face of no agreement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI picked up and moved to New York City in 2022 with no family or friends here,\u201d said Hall, standing at a petite 5-foot-6. \u201cI enrolled in NYU\u2019s Communicative Sciences and Disorders program to study pediatric speech therapy, but modeling was always a desire on the back burner of my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Now finished with school and a bit more familiar with the Big Apple, the go-getter is ready to give the Victoria\u2019s Secret Fashion Show a go.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hungry for this opportunity,\u201d admitted Hall. \u201cI\u2019m at an appropriate stage in life where I finally know who I am and what I have to offer to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy path has rarely been linear or perfect,\u201d she conceded. \u201cBut I\u2019ve learned how to be authentically me, and that\u2019s what I\u2019d want to show everyone as the next Victoria\u2019s Secret Angel.\u201d<\/p>\n The global goddess\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n As a businesswoman with a hankering for modeling, there\u2019s no place in the world Martina Zavalla would rather be than NYC, taking the big Victoria\u2019s Secret swing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been told that I should pursue modeling, but I never considered doing it full-time, just for fun,\u201d Zavalla, 24, told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n After relocating from Argentina to the US at age 17, the beauty \u201crestarted my life at zero,\u201d forced to embrace a new language, culture and lifestyle as an account manager for her parents\u2019 appliances company.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, at just under 5-foot-5, Zavalla hopes her Victoria\u2019s Secret submission springboards her career into the spotlight that she \u2014 and millions of little girls with similar backgrounds \u2014 has always secretly craved.\u00a0<\/p>\n Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love to become the next Angel for all of the kids and women in Costa Rica and Argentina that might not have the opportunities that we have in the United States,\u201d said Zavalla. \u201cThe casting wasn\u2019t available to people outside of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d represent them as a Victoria\u2019s Secret angel, showing them that anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The healthcare hottie<\/strong><\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n Working as an operating room nurse at one of Manhattan\u2019s most prestigious medical facilities is no cakewalk, says Tria Simmons.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 27-year-old, however, tells The Post that her runway walk just might be her ticket out of the OR and into mainstream modeling as Victoria\u2019s Secret\u2019s newest Angel.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have all the measurements of Naomi Campbell, so why not shoot my shot?\u201d Simmons, a native of Arizona, now living in Chelsea, chuckled, referencing her attempt at runway greatness. \u201cI just go wherever life takes me. Nothing is holding me back.\u201d<\/p>\n But her work as an Angel \u2014 should she be offered the prized position \u2014 wouldn\u2019t totally eclipse her role in healthcare.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to pursue modeling and nursing at the same time,\u201d said Simmons. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer in leaving this world better than it was before I got here, so nursing will always be a priority.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And the 5-foot-10 head-turner says now is the time to try juggling both demanding designation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to be 50 wishing I would have tried to become a model in my 20s,\u201d insisted Simmons.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just going for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t