Brooke Shields FINALLY felt confident enough to wear a bikini at 53

Brooke Shields reveals she FINALLY felt confident enough to wear a bikini at 53 as she wanted her daughters to have a realistic idea of women's bodies

Published: 15:29 BST, 5 July 2018 | Updated: 18:24 BST, 5 July 2018

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She recently unveiled a series of sizzling shots, unveiling her enviably lean and toned body as she posed in a red string bikini in the Swimsuits For All campaign.

But Brooke Shields, 53, has revealed that it was only on the lead-up to her May birthday that she finally felt comfortable to wear a two-piece in public - and her change of heart was inspired by her daughters Rowan, 15, and Grier, 12.

In a recent interview with InStyle magazine, the model and actress recalled: 'I used to wear these bathing suits that practically came to my knees.

Smouldering: Brooke Shields has revealed that she didn't feel comfortable to wear a bikini in public until turning 52. Pictured in a recent Swimsuits For All campaign

'My oldest daughter would say, "That makes you look so big and uncomfortable." I realised I had to be confident in my skin to set the right example for her.'

She added: 'We all have different body types and spend so much of our time comparing ourselves with others. But I’ve found if you look at your individual physiological structure and play up the strong points, it’s empowering. It’s not in my DNA to be waiflike, so I ask, “What do I have?” and highlight that.'

In an interview with NET-A-PORTER’s weekly digital magazine, PorterEdit, Brooke revealed that she struggled to find confidence when she was younger, as her late alcoholic mother Teri Shields shockingly branded her 'fat' on numerous occasions.

We are family: The star has two daughters, Rowan and Grier, with her husband Chris Henchy. Pictured together at Brooke's 50th birthday celebrations in New York City in 2015

She told the publication: 'My mother would get drunk and say, "Why don’t you move your fat a**?" So, I’ve always believed I had a fat a**.'

'I modelled swimwear when I was 15, and even then, I didn’t think I had a swimsuit body,' Brooke continued. 'I was a cover girl, not a supermodel. I was neck-up – the face, the eyebrows – and I was always described as "athletic", "not rail-thin", "not a runway model". Those messages, they seep into your consciousness.'

Subsequently, she embarked on an ill-fated marriage to tennis ace Andre Agassi - who she divorced in 1999 after just two years - to escape the clutches of her overbearing parent, who also served as her manager.

Snaps: In recent weeks, Brooke has been sharing several bikini snaps of herself on Instagram

Workout: The star revealed that she has changed her approach to working out in recent years

'I needed Andre to separate from my mother,' admitted Brooke. 'I’d spent my life, 24/7, being so worried that my mother was going to die, and my whole world was wrapped around keeping her alive.

'But that probably saved me and kept me on the straight and narrow. I needed to get past that, so that I could start at square one and be a less encumbered version of myself. But I still had so much growing up to do.'

She soon started to feel better about herself after embarking on a romance with screenwriter Chris Henchy, with whom she celebrated 17 years of marriage in April.

Jibes: In an interview with PorterEdit, the star revealed that she struggled to find confidence when she was younger, as her late alcoholic mother Teri Shields repeatedly branded her 'fat'

Of her husband, she said: 'I would walk backwards out of rooms, and he’d say, "No, I want to grab onto you." He really celebrated my womanliness and my body. And I needed a man to celebrate me.'

While Brooke endured such issues, she's proud to reveal that her daughters are both so much more 'mature' and 'confident' than she was when she was their age.

She said: '[My daughters] are so much more mature than I was, so much more confident in their own bodies. They have the same stubbornness and strength that I do, but are more well-adjusted. I am jealous as all hell about that. But, of course, I created it.'

Brooke's career has included some controversial moments, including playing a child prostitute in the 1978 film Pretty Baby and appearing in a nude photograph that was displayed - and later removed - from London's Tate Modern.

Star: Brooke has had one of Hollywood's most enduring careers, rising to fame as a child star

Speaking to PorterEdit, she admitted: 'I don’t think Pretty Baby would [get made today]. And I don’t even think Endless Love or The Blue Lagoon would. But they were actually so vanilla compared with the porn you can find so easily everywhere now.'

On the nude photograph, she added: 'I was removed from the Tate [Modern] – how many people can say that?

'But it makes you lack confidence in that institution, because the very purpose of that picture was to make a comment on [the idea of the child star] and on re-appropriation. It made them look weak.'