Melania Trump BOMBSHELL: How 'quiet' Melania became supermodel before meeting Donald Trump

The First Lady grew up far away from the bright lights of New York city in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana with dreams of becoming a supermodel. During her childhood, Melania and her older sister were raised by her parents Victor and Amalija, according to friends her father Victor favoured a traditional upbringing and controlled the family, according a new book by Nina Burleigh. Melania’s secondary-school classmates, Petra Sedej said: “He was tough… She, her sister and her mother were very close.”

Her strict upbringing was reflected during her teenage years where alongside her sister the introverted pair attended the city’s Secondary School of Design and Photography, Ms Burleigh writes in The Telegraph Magazine for the release of her book Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trump’s Women.

It was there when Melania first caught the attention of many with her stylish looks with friends describing her as a “bomb” which helped to grow her confidence.

A Slovenian architect and former teaching assistant told Ms Burleigh: “I remember her because she was a bomb.

“The other girls were average-looking and when she came in, wow. She was wearing jeans from Italy or Paris, with chains, and sunglasses on top of her head.”

Melania decided to go onto read design and architecture at the University of Ljubljana but despite the growing attention she still lacked self-belief and was left terrified and “shaking” during an early examination.

The architect who was also assigned to invigilate one of Melania’s exams, said: “After about 15 minutes, there was nothing on the paper. She was standing there… just shaking and shaking, trembling, nervous. Knowing, I think, that she couldn’t pass the exam.”

Melania’s modelling career first took off when she was aged just 17-years-old, and first spotted during a fashion show in the capital.

Stane Jerko who went on to produce at portfolio of her, said: “She was quiet, kind, hard-working, did not complain, which is why she did not attract attention.”

It was not until 1996 where Melania would embark on her most famous shoot with Fashion photographer Jarl Alé de Basseville, her raunchy snaps for the Paris lads’ magazine Max, would come to light in the 2016 Presidential race.

At the time Mr de Basseville said: “Nobody knew Melania… she wanted to be famous.”

This is a stark contrast to the attention the First Lady now receives, Melania, 48, went onto meet Mr Trump in the late 1990s in New York and the couple married in 2005.

The third wife of Mr Trump has also drawn comparisons between her father and the 45th US president.

The 48-year-old said: “They’re both hard-working. They’re both very smart and very capable. They grew up in totally different environments, but they have the same values, the same tradition. I myself am similar to my husband… So is my dad. He is a family man, he has tradition.”

source: express.co.uk