It’s no secret that Sarah Grossi wants wings.
The Big Apple transplant, a 22-year-old native of Massachusetts, flew the coop from New England to New York with a singular goal — to slay amongst the Angels in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
“It’s one of my biggest dreams,” Grossi, a 2026 NYU grad, exclusively told The Post. “As a graduating senior in high school, my yearbook quote was, ‘I want to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Show.’ My NYU application essay centered around my goal to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Show.”
“One of my final college essays, which was like 12 pages, was about the sociology of the Victoria’s Secret Show as a cultural phenomenon and how it’s shaped my life.”
Now, she might get the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of joining the ranks of Shanina Shaik, Naomi Campbell, Jasmine Tookes, Candace Swanepoel, Heidi Klum, Bella and Gigi Hadid and Tyra Banks — to name a few.
Grossi is one of a flock of NYC sirens vying for the solo spot as a rookie recruit in the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show this fall, after the brand opened up applications to the general public.
The application does not explicitly exclude folks of specific heights or weights. But is only open to ages 18 to 28.
Along with the chance to strike a pose on the heralded Victoria’s Secret platform, the lucky looker selected to star in the show will also ink an exclusive contract with IMG Models.
The annual spectacle, buxom with bosomy bombshells boasting ginormous feathered wings while modeling bras and bikinis, made a controversial comeback in 2024 and 2025 after being canceled in late 2019.
The six-year hiatus came amid a flurry of scandals, including ex-Victoria’s Secret chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, saying its main stage had no room for plus-size models, and shocking revelations that Leslie Wexner, the CEO of its former parent company, L Brands, enjoyed a close friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The diverse pool of women who’ve answered the company’s new casting call, however, are endeavoring to change the negative narrative once and for all.
From curvy contenders like Grace, who unabashedly bragged about being invited to Victoria’s Secret’s second round of casting this week, to Stella Kae, a paralyzed 5-foot-10 pinup who put a bid in for the coveted gig from her wheelchair, nationwide knockouts of all kinds are eagerly entering the running.
And Gotham’s most angelic are going full steam ahead.
Meet five of NYC’s steamiest, dreamiest Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show candidates.
The bookworm-turned-bombshell
Kailyn Shepherd grew up as the girl who always got the grade. A scholar best known for scoring — and standing — head and shoulders above her peers, the 5-foot-9 New Jersey native excelled in classrooms at boarding school and Amherst College, but secretly longed for life in the limelight as a model.
It was an unspoken desire Shepherd suppressed for years until 2023, when she introduced her innate modeling talents online, proving to the world that a girl can succeed with both beauty and brains.
“I was tired of being put into a box by society,” Shepherd, 25, based in the East Village, told The Post. “I’ve always wanted to model, but so many people look down on it as a trivial profession. But I knew I had a gift, so I started posting my walk on social media.”
Footage of her saucy swagger caught the eye of trendy fashion houses, landing Shepherd spots on New York- and London Fashion Week walkways.
“But once I became a model, that’s all people saw — a pretty face,” she groaned. “My education, my opinions didn’t matter.“
Shepherd hopes to turn the tide by scoring the Victoria’s Secret post.
“Being the next Angel would hopefully give me the chance to show young women, especially young black women, that you don’t have to choose between being smart and being sexy, you can be both,” she gushed.
“You can be all the things — feminine, fierce and intelligent on the runway.”
The fit centerfold
Sarah Grossi doesn’t fold under pressure. She thrives under it.
“Physical and mental health are really important to me,” said the aspiring teen therapist. “I really admired Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Train Like an Angel’ campaign, showing how committed their models are to truly being athletes and working out in, like, such healthy ways.”
“So I’ve started challenging myself with some really big fitness goals.”
The 5-foot-10 stunner — who’s filmed her submission video in Victoria’s Secret’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue — recently took up running. She’s completed six half-marathons in the past year and was a shoo-in for the second phase of the casting
“I’m doing this big challenge as, like, a solo female hiker soon. I also like snowboard, ski and surf,” said Grossi. “I want to encourage young girls to move their bodies in healthy ways, to commit to athletics and setting goals that boost their self-esteem.”
“As a tall girl in school, I didn’t get a lot of attention from guys,” she added. “But my fitness and Victoria’s Secret journeys have helped me find inner confidence.”
The versatile vixen
Adapting comes as second nature to Devyn Hall.
The 23-year-old Los Angeles transplant, who identifies as mixed race, has had to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings and unwelcoming people her entire life. But the adversities she faced as a product of a “broken home” gave the belle the gusto to go after her dreams — even in the face of no agreement.
“I picked up and moved to New York City in 2022 with no family or friends here,” said Hall, standing at a petite 5-foot-6. “I enrolled in NYU’s Communicative Sciences and Disorders program to study pediatric speech therapy, but modeling was always a desire on the back burner of my heart.”
Now finished with school and a bit more familiar with the Big Apple, the go-getter is ready to give the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show a go.
“I’m hungry for this opportunity,” admitted Hall. “I’m at an appropriate stage in life where I finally know who I am and what I have to offer to the world.”
“My path has rarely been linear or perfect,” she conceded. “But I’ve learned how to be authentically me, and that’s what I’d want to show everyone as the next Victoria’s Secret Angel.”
The global goddess
As a businesswoman with a hankering for modeling, there’s no place in the world Martina Zavalla would rather be than NYC, taking the big Victoria’s Secret swing.
“I’ve always been told that I should pursue modeling, but I never considered doing it full-time, just for fun,” Zavalla, 24, told The Post.
After relocating from Argentina to the US at age 17, the beauty “restarted my life at zero,” forced to embrace a new language, culture and lifestyle as an account manager for her parents’ appliances company.
But, at just under 5-foot-5, Zavalla hopes her Victoria’s Secret submission springboards her career into the spotlight that she — and millions of little girls with similar backgrounds — has always secretly craved.
“I’d love to become the next Angel for all of the kids and women in Costa Rica and Argentina that might not have the opportunities that we have in the United States,” said Zavalla. “The casting wasn’t available to people outside of the country.”
“I’d represent them as a Victoria’s Secret angel, showing them that anything is possible.”
The healthcare hottie
Working as an operating room nurse at one of Manhattan’s most prestigious medical facilities is no cakewalk, says Tria Simmons.
The 27-year-old, however, tells The Post that her runway walk just might be her ticket out of the OR and into mainstream modeling as Victoria’s Secret’s newest Angel.
“I have all the measurements of Naomi Campbell, so why not shoot my shot?” Simmons, a native of Arizona, now living in Chelsea, chuckled, referencing her attempt at runway greatness. “I just go wherever life takes me. Nothing is holding me back.”
But her work as an Angel — should she be offered the prized position — wouldn’t totally eclipse her role in healthcare.
“I’d like to pursue modeling and nursing at the same time,” said Simmons. “I’m a firm believer in leaving this world better than it was before I got here, so nursing will always be a priority.”
And the 5-foot-10 head-turner says now is the time to try juggling both demanding designation.
“I don’t want to be 50 wishing I would have tried to become a model in my 20s,” insisted Simmons.
“I’m just going for it.”
