Behind The Scenes Reactions To Ming Xi’s Fall At The VS Fashion Show Are So Heartwarming
Falling on your face in front of a huge crowd that includes your family, friends, and, oh yeah, millions of people watching on TV is basically everyone’s worst nightmare. But it happened to Ming Xi, the model who fell on the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai, which aired on Nov. 28. But at least when the worst happened, Ming Xi could be comforted by the fact that she had the best support to help her get over it — the behind the scenes reactions to Ming Xi’s fall at the VS Fashion Show are seriously warming all of our hearts.
After the show taped on Nov. 20, we all heard about The Fall. While strutting her stuff on the runway, porting around a stylized flower ornament and swirling a long gossamer robe, Shanghai native Ming Xi accidentally swirled her robe a little too far, and brought it right under her foot — and slipped on the fabric. Like a true professional, she looked impossibly graceful even as she was hitting the floor, keeping the smile on her face and her accessories perfectly straight. Her fellow Victoria's Secret model, Gizele Oliveira, immediately came to her rescue, helping her up and standing back to give Xi her moment in the spotlight, where she of course looked gorgeous, cool, and collected.
Backstage, it was a different story. As Xi stepped off the catwalk, she broke down in tears. But her fellow models were there to support her — as she sobbed, fellow Angel Lily Aldridge came up to embrace her. "It's OK, don't worry," Aldridge can be heard saying. "You're so beautiful. You looked so beautiful at the end."
This. This is the kind of validation we all need.
A moment later, performer Leslie Odom Jr., who had been singing during Xi's fall, stepped backstage and offered his own support. "Sometimes we fall, we get back up," he said, adding that if you fall seven times, you get back up eight. When the show aired on Nov. 28, Odom tweeted out his support to Xi again — "Ming Xi is a great example of who we should strive to be in difficult times!" he wrote.
After the show's taping, Xi said in an Instagram post that while her fall was "one of the hardest moments" she'd ever had to go through, the support she got after her spill was "incredible."
"I am truly grateful to everyone who was there for me," she wrote, naming Oliveira, who helped her up, and VS Senior Creative Director Ed Razek. She continued,
Thank you to all the girls who rushed to comfort me at backstage after what had happened, you are all family to me. Lastly thank you to everyone who sent and left me supportive messages. I will pick myself up from where I fell, and I will keep going in order to repay all the support you all have given me!!
Ugh. So many feels.
Even better? Social media — which isn't exactly known for being warm and supportive of mistakes — was here for Xi after her fall, too. Whether it was eye rolling over the fact that the embarrassing moment got left in the televised show, or just cheering Xi on for her professionalism and poise, the internet was honestly just really supportive. And it was beautiful.
It's not about how many times you fall, Ming, it's about how many times you get back up. (OK, occasionally it's about how damn gorgeous you look when you're falling.) And it's always about the friends who are there to help you back up. That's the most important thing of all.
