'People will always judge me': Melania Trump hits back at Barbara Walters' suggestion her 'risky' photoshoots may be a liability to her husband's campaign

• Melania Trump defended herself against suggestions her modeling past and topless photoshoots may hurt Trump's campaign for president 
• She said she has not been supporting her husband on the campaign trail in order to stay at home for their 9-year-old son, Barron
• The Slovenian-born former model says she believes her husband will be the 'strong' and 'tough' leader America needs 
• When asked if his wife has given him any campaign advice, Trump said she told him to 'tone it down a little bit' during the Republican debates    
• Trump also said Melania would make an 'elegant' first lady  

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com

Published: 02:06 EST, 21 November 2015 | Updated: 07:35 EST, 21 November 2015

Since the Republican primary race kicked off earlier this year, Melania Trump has been her husband's very opposite - quiet and demure.

But the former model finally broke her silence on Friday in order to support her husband, giving a sit-down interview with Barbara Walters for ABC's 20/20.

The Slovenian-born former model started out defending herself after Walters wondered whether the revealing photoshoots of Melania's past - such as posing topless on the cover on GQ - may be a 'liability' to Trump's campaign.

'I think people will always judge, and maybe they will say, ''Oh, the past that you have, the way you were modeling,'' (but) that's part of the job that I was doing,' Melania said in the interview. 

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Speaking out for the first time: Melania Trump gave her first campaign interview with ABC's Barbara Walters on Friday night, and defended her modeling past against suggestions it might hurt Trump's race

Stay-at-home mom: Slovenian-born Melania says she has not accompanied her husband on the campaign trail because she is staying home to take care of their 9-year-old son Barron 

The former model started out defending herself after Walters wondered whether the revealing photoshoots of Melania's past - such as posing topless on the cover on GQ - may be a 'liability' to Trump's campaign

She continued: 'I was a very successful model and I did some photo shoots. Yes, there were a little risky, (but) nothing more than you see each year in Sports Illustrated.'  

Trump said that, if he should win, America would be 'lucky' to have Melania as first lady.

'She would be so beautiful and elegant and good from the heart,' he said.

Melania also maintained that she doesn't think her husband is misogynistic, amid much criticism over the way he speaks of women.

'It doesn't bother me,' she said.

'He treats everybody the same. He talks about men as well as he talks about women.' 

When asked why she had chosen stay at home instead of supporting her husband on the campaign trail, Melania said it was a conscious decision on her part. 

'Well it's my choice not to be there,' Melania said, sitting next to her husband in their gilded Manhattan penthouse. 'I support my husband 100 per cent. But we have a 9-year-old son together, Barron, and I'm raising him. And this is the age he needs a parent at home.' 

She says that she believes her husband will be a 'strong' and 'tough' leader for the country, and that his decision to run for president is something she backs completely.

'We discussed it a lot, yes, and I encouraged him,' Melania said of her husband's decision to run. 'I encouraged him because I know what he will do and what he can do for America. He loves the American people and he wants to help them.' 

Melania admits that criticisms of Trump in the press - among them that his stance on immigration is 'racist' - are 'unpleasant' to hear.

When asked if she thought her husband had been misrepresented in anyway, Melania said some people think he's 'nasty'. 

'He's not. He has a big heart and a very warm heart,' Melania said. 

Family affair: Melania, left, and Trump, right, pictured in January attending the Trump Invitational Grand Prix in Mar-a-Lago with their son Barron, center 

Melania cracked a smile and exchanged a glance when with her husband when Walters asked if she had given him any advice.  

While Melania kept her lips sealed, Trump jumped in and admitted that his wife has had some feedback about his debating style.

'She told me you can tone it down a little bit on occasion which I understand,' Trump said. 

Trump looked adoringly at Melania when Walters asked if they had an equal relationship. 

'I would say no,' Trump said. 'I think she's far greater than the 50 per cent.' 

If Trump is elected, Melania would be the second first lady born outside the country (Louisa Adams was born in England) and the first raised in a Communist country.

She was born Melania Knauss on April 26, 1970 to two affluent parents in Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia.

Her mother, Amalija, was reportedly was a fashion designer, while her father, Victor was said to have been a successful businessman, managing motorcycle and automobile dealerships.

Melania was so beautiful that she started modeling at the young age of five, and signed with her first agency by 18. 

But her life wasn't all catwalks and photoshoots.

At 19, Melania graduated from the Academy of Design and Architecture in Ljubljana,Slovenia's capital, after studying art and architecture.

Her modeling career took off in the mid-1990s and by 1996 she was living in New York City, her image gracing billboards for Camel cigarettes, Lord &Taylor and Bergdorf Goodman.

If Trump is elected president, Melania will be the first first lady to have posed nude for a magazine (left). Melania pictured in her $200,000 wedding gown on the right 

Bundle of joy: Donald and Melania's son was born in March, 2006. They married in January 2005 

And it was her career that led her to her future husband. In 1998, then 28-year-old Melania first met Donald Trump, then 52, at New York's Kit Kat Club and she refused to give him her number (it was said he was at the party with another woman).

But he gave her his number and eventually Melania called him back. The two started dating shortly after.

The two married in 2005, with Melania wearing a custom $200,000 bridal down from the Paris fashion house Christian Dior, which was later featured on the front cover of Vogue magazine.

At the time, it was said to be the most expensive wedding dress designed ever.

Today, the Trumps split their time between their Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan and their Palm Beach residence Mar-a-Lago.

When Parenting magazine about how much her husband helps in raising their son Barron, Melania said: ''He is very busy. He spends quality time with Barron. They have a beautiful relationship full of respect and love.'

She says she already sees their young boy taking after his father. Barron is 'very strong-minded,' Melania says, 'sometimes I call him little Donald.

Barron is Donald and Melania's only child together.  Trumps's sons Donald Jr, Eric and daughter Ivanka are with first wife Ivana Trump. His 21-year-old daughter Tiffany, with second-wife Marla Maples.

All four of his adult children also sat down with Barbara Walters to speak about their father in the ABC special. 

Family time: Donald Trump's four oldest children (l to r: Donald Jr., Barbara Walters, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany) sat down with Barbara Walters for a rare joint interview that will air on 20/20 Friday night

The Trump family from left to right: Eric Trump and his wife Lara, Donald Trump, son Barron, Melania Trump, Vanessa Haydon and her husband Donald Trump Jr., children Kia Trump and Donald Trump III, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner and Tiffany Trump

The siblings discussed their father's humor, how practical he is and his infamous hair.

'It is funny because it's the only hair we've ever known, and people seem fascinated' said Ivanka.

'To us, it's the norm.'

Tiffany then joked; 'It's funny because my dad always says I'm really happy you got your mom's [Trump's second wife Marla Maples] hair and not my hair.' 

Eric, 31, also discussed what he believes people in America might not know about his father.

'His humor is one of his best qualities, and it doesn't come across on the news when he's talking about serious issues,' said Eric.

'But he's incredibly funny. He's an incredibly practical person.'

The four were also asked why it was Ivanka who was asked to introduce their father when he announced he would be seeking the Republican nomination for president this past June in a speech at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, but no one was quite sure.

'That's an excellent question, and I don't know exactly how it was decided but I was honored to do it and I feel like I was sort of standing there representing our family,' said Ivanka. 

Eric then said; 'And she did an amazing job by the way.'

Donald Jr. added to that; 'She's a great messenger, she's got great poise and I think the way Ivanka delivered the message was perfect.' 

The oldest Trump children manage to stay just as busy as their famous father, with most of them working for the him.

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