Inside Leni Klum's Relationship With Seal

Leni Klum made her runway debut before she could even crawl; in fact, she was still in the womb. Her mom, supermodel Heidi Klum, was in her second trimester while modeling lingerie for the 2003 Victoria's Secret fashion show. "I am not alone walking down that catwalk here," Heidi captioned an Instagram video of her runway walk.

Something else important happened before Leni was born: Her biological father, entrepreneur Flavio Briatore, and her mom broke up. Heidi then started dating "Kiss From a Rose" singer Seal. However, Heidi didn't tell him she was pregnant until after her first overnight stay. "I laughed and said, 'Already? That's amazing!'" Seal recalled in an interview with the Mirror. "She said, 'Not with you stupid.'" The British singer was so smitten with the German model, however, that he decided to stick around. As for Briatore, he told Il Corriere della Sera (via the Daily Mail) that he initially tried to have a relationship with Leni, but it became too difficult because Heidi's home was in Hollywood and he was London-based. After Seal entered the picture, Briatore seemingly felt more justified in cutting ties with Leni, explaining, "The three of us happily agreed that it made more sense if Seal adopted her, because a child needs to grow up in a family."

Heidi and Seal had three more biological children — sons Henry and Johan and daughter Lou — before divorcing in 2012, but Seal credits Leni with changing his life forever.

In a 2008 interview with the Mirror, Seal spoke about what it was like becoming a father so early in his relationship with Heidi Klum. "Everything changed. You start being more responsible and think about what you are going to do with your time," he said. Growing up, Seal didn't have a happy relationship with his own father. On the "Think About It" podcast, he explained this is one reason he loves being a musician so much; when fans tell him they love what he does, it feels like getting the parental approval he always craved. "I never got that from my father, even on his deathbed," he said. Seal vowed to make sure that Leni Klum didn't grow up feeling the way he did. 

He officially adopted his daughter in 2009, explaining the move to the Mirror by saying, "I wanted her to have the same last name as the rest of us. ... I don't want her to feel different because I know what that's like, being a kind of stepson. And I don't want that dynamic for my little girl."

If you listen closely to his music, you might hear Seal sing about his love for Leni; he told Reuters that some of the lyrics in his 2010 song "Secret" are about her. However, in 2021, he told Us Weekly that Leni and her siblings aren't the biggest fans of his music.

Leni Klum seemed poised to follow in her mother's footsteps in 2020, when she appeared on the cover of Vogue Germany with Heidi Klum. "It was only a matter of time before I would try to become a model myself," Leni told Vogue. Heidi made Leni wait until age 16 to begin accepting modeling gigs and while Leni might have a seasoned pro in her corner to guide her, Seal would prefer for his daughter to have a different passion. "That's a precarious road to take," he told Us Weekly of his feelings about Leni pursuing a modeling career.

Still, Seal dutifully plays the role of doting dad. When he and Leni attended the 2021 Hollywood premiere of "The Harder They Fall" — which was directed by the singer's brother, Jeymes Samuel — he called it "one of the proudest moments of my life" in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. Seal also revealed that he felt a special connection with Leni before she was born, saying, "[Heidi] was two weeks pregnant with this beautiful lady. We have always had that bond."

The father and daughter also have a common interest. According to The Guardian, Seal studied architecture before his music career took off, and in 2022, Leni told People that she was studying interior design while attending college in NYC. We're guessing Seal was thrilled when he learned that she has something to fall back on if modeling doesn't work out.