Contact: Andrea Martin- andreamartin@tyndale.com or 640.784.5318

(Chicago, January 2013)—Kylie Bisutti always dreamed of being a Victoria’s Secret model. In 2009, after a heated competition, 19-year-old Bisutti won the coveted title of Victoria’s Secret Angel. Soon after, however, Bisutti discovered that being a Victoria’s Secret Angel wasn’t all she thought it would be and did not fit in with her Christian beliefs. In December 2011, Bisutti stunned the fashion industry and the nation by announcing that she was choosing faith over fame and fortune—she would be hanging up her Angel wings and walking away from a very lucrative career. She could no longer reconcile her career with her Christian beliefs. For the first time, Bisutti tells her story in I’m No Angel, releasing in May 2013 from Tyndale House Publishers. She shares candid stories from her early teen years, as she struggled to make it in the cutthroat world of modeling, and offers readers a backstage glimpse into the Victoria’s Secret Angel competition—the victory as well as the disillusionment and spiritual struggles that followed. 

Bisutti gives a rare, no-holds-barred look at the harsh realities of the modeling industry as she relates her personal struggles with low self-image and her constant quest for approval in a world where it’s impossible to be thin enough, pretty enough, or sexy enough. Along the way, she hopes to help readers understand the powerful truth that real beauty lies within and that real fulfillment comes from knowing, loving, and serving Christ. 

“I didn’t want to be part of the illusion created by the media that puts pressure on girls to think they have to look like a model to feel beautiful or valued,” Bisutti explains. “Even if a model has six-pack abs and not an ounce of fat on her thighs, something about her will be airbrushed or Photoshopped.” 

“I think people are going to be blown away by some of the revelations in this book. I had no idea how morally bankrupt the modeling industry could be. This book should be mandatory reading for every young girl who thinks she wants to be a model (or just look like one), every woman who has ever felt insecure about her looks, and every parent whose daughter has uttered the words, ‘I need to go on a diet,’” explains Carol Traver, Sr. Acquisitions Editor, Tyndale House Publishers. “Kylie’s message is hard to hear at times, and people will no doubt be shocked at what goes on behind the scenes, but I can’t think of a more timely and important message for parents, young girls, and women of all ages.”

Bisutti especially wants to reach out to young girls and encourage them not to try to live up to these unachievable standards. She has seen firsthand the emotional and physical toll this industry can take on young girls—from eating disorders to drug addiction to extreme insecurity. “Your outer appearance will fade away, but true beauty—in the form of kindness, humility, and love—will never fade,” Bisutti says. “Stop looking to the media and its illusions for your identity and start looking toward Christ.”

About the author… Kylie Bisutti is a former Victoria’s Secret Angel. At age 19, she beat out 10,000 other girls to win a modeling contract with Victoria’s Secret. But upon achieving her lifelong dream, she realized she could not reconcile her work with her Christian beliefs, so in December 2011, she quit modeling for Victoria’s Secret and dedicated herself to being a role model for young girls. Her message focuses on the importance of dressing modestly, honoring your body, and recognizing that true beauty lies within.

Tyndale House Publishers, founded in 1962, is one of the largest privately held Christian publishers of books, Bibles, and digital media in the world. Tyndale is the publisher of many New York Times bestsellers and contributes its dividends and a portion of its profits to the nonprofit Tyndale House Foundation, which makes grants to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world. Originally founded to publish The Living Bible, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible that became a global publishing phenomenon, Tyndale now publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), the translation of choice for millions of people.