Paulina Porizkova Isn’t Afraid to Open Up About Her ‘Uneasy’ Relationship With Money

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From her social media presence to the brave stories she shared in her tell-all memoir, No Filter, Paulina Porizkova has always been an open book. In her interview with SheKnows for our latest digital issue, The Money Issue, she was no different.

Following the photoshoot for the cover, the supermodel sat down with us to answer all our burning questions about her relationship with money, both then and now. When asked what her relationship with money has been like in the past, Porizkova recalled feeling that “money acquired magical powers” when her family was going through a hard time financially. After receiving her first paycheck, however, that vision shattered when she realized money wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

We also asked Porizkova, who was once one of the highest-paid models in the world, if she ever felt guilt or shame about all that money. “I’ve had a tremendous amount of guilt for making the money that I make and I have been shamed for it my whole life,” she says candidly, adding that when she was 15 years old, she made in just a couple of weeks what her parents made in a year.

As for how her relationship with money is now, Porizkova admits it’s always going to be an “uneasy” dynamic. “I feel like money is a little bit like a live grenade,” she says. “It can be extremely powerful, but it can also blow up in your face.”

As a special bonus, we even got a snippet of her singing ABBA’s “Money, Money, Money.” What could be more fitting than that? Check out all her answers in our video above. And for more insight into Porizkova’s financial evolution, be sure to read our exclusive cover story.