Petra Nemcova believes staying in touch with her "inner child" has kept her looking young.
The supermodel recently turned 37 but she was delighted when an Uber driver during a recent taxi ride told her she looked just 25.
Petra believes staying young at heart has maintained her youthful beauty, and she believes she actually looked older when she was in her 20s.
She said: "Recently, an Uber driver in Los Angeles guessed I was 25 and when I told him my age, he was shocked. I told him when I was young, in my teens, I looked much older and now, without make-up, I kind of look younger. He said, ‘So you have the Benjamin Button effect!’ Sometimes I wake up feeling 100 years old, sometimes I wake up feeling energetic and young, so age doesn’t matter. It’s keeping in touch with your inner child and doing things that make you happy that makes you look younger."
Although she makes sure she watches what she eats and exercises regularly, Petra also thinks a little bit of indulgence is good for your wellbeing.
She shared: "My addiction is dark chocolate. I eat a bar a day. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, a chocolate bar keeps the psychiatrist away."
Petra survived the devastating tsunami that hit Thailand in 2005 killing 280,000 people, including her fiancé Simon Atlee.
Being so close to death changed the Czech catwalk beauty’s entire outlook on life and inspired her to create her charity Happy Hearts Fund, which builds schools in areas affected by natural disasters.
Speaking about the impact the tsunami had on her, Petra told Prestige Hong Kong magazine: "There are many beautiful lessons through it. First that life is so precious because something can happen in a split second and everything is gone, so appreciate it. "Second, I was always living in the future, never in the present, because I was always writing so many lists. After the tsunami, it was like I was able to live in the moment. Third, in life, everything has duality: water broke lots of debris and crushed my pelvis in four places, so water created pain. But then, when I was holding on to the palm tree and the water (level) was quite high, so water was lifting me and taking the pain away."
Petra Nemcova: My inner child keeps me young
