The reason why Gisele Bundchen was absent from the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show revealed

Gisele Bundchen 's absence from the revived Victoria's Secret fashion show this week left fans sorely disappointed.

But it has been revealed the supermodel icon, 44, who was one of the brand's Angels from 1999-2006, was indeed asked to rejoin the lingerie fold for the show - but declined the offer due to retiring from the runway in 2020.

TMZ reports that Victoria's Secret reached out to Gisele's team in June when they began casting the show, with her agents 'politely declining' on her behalf, citing her retirement from catwalk modelling.

Emmanuelle Alt - the former head of French Vogue and stylish for the VS show - reportedly tried to convince Gisele to come out of retirement, to no avail.

Gisele last worked with Victoria's Secret in 2023 when she modelled for the brand's Icons campaign.

She told O Globo in 2020: 'I never said I would retire, just that I would no longer do runways. I will never stop working. My desire is to continue creating until the day I die.

She previously said: 'Automatically, my body tells me if what I do is worth it, and it asked to stop. I respect my body, it's a privilege to be able to stop. I've learned to listen to my body.'

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York featured musical performances from Cher , Tyla and BLACKPINK 's Lisa, while Gigi and Bella Hadid, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Ashley Graham walked the runway.

The fashion show was canceled in 2019 after dealing with bad ratings and a whole slew of wild controversies, and has since made an effort to become more inclusive.

The show was once a star-studded, glamorous affair that began back in 1995 and featured a who's who of the modeling world, including Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen, and more.

It even featured musical performances from the likes of Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd.

But the company cancelled the show and dropped the Victoria's Secret Angel title in 2019 amid criticism the brand did not include models of all shapes and backgrounds.

A damning 2020 in The New York Times included allegations of misogyny, bullying and harassment by former Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek.

It also listed concerns about L Brands Chief Executive Leslie Wexner's long friendship with convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein prior to his death in jail.

Epstein was awaiting trial on charging of sex trafficking minors at the time of his death.

The 2022 Hulu documentary, Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons, continued to focus the microscope on the lingerie brand's corporate culture.

The three-part series included claims of body shaming, misogyny, and discomfort that the PINK line, which was aimed at tweens and teenagers, made girls feel bad about themselves.

Victoria's Secret was separated from the parent company in 2021.

It is now looking to regain its reputation and its hold on its corner of the lucrative intimates market.

They now feature models of all backgrounds and sizes — similarly to trailblazer Rihanna's Savage X Fenty campaigns and show.