Melania Trump Shock: FLOTUS' Former Parisian Roommate Exposes Her Extreme Diet Habits

Melania Trump's former Paris flatmate Victoria Silvstedt has revisited their modelling days in a new interview, describing the First Lady as 'sweet, down to earth' and fiercely driven while they shared an apartment in Paris.

The comments, published this week, draw a more human portrait of Melania Trump and her early life before the White House, rather than the polished political figure most readers know today.

Silvstedt and Melania lived together in Paris in the 1990s, when both were trying to establish themselves as models. Silvstedt later became Playboy's Playmate of the Year in 1997, while Melania's career ultimately took a very different route, culminating in her becoming First Lady.

Melania Trump And The Paris Years

Silvstedt, now 51, recalled that the two women kept mostly to themselves and supported each other through the grind of modelling work. 'We just stuck together. We were very, very supportive of each other. We'd actually stay home most of the time,' she said, a remark that gives the relationship a quieter, less glamorous edge than the fashion-world mythology usually suggests.

Her account of Melania Trump, though, was notably admiring. Silvstedt said her former flatmate was 'very sweet, down to earth, but also so determined,' adding that she had 'that very Slavic determination.'

Those words matter because they place emphasis not on celebrity, but on discipline, a trait Silvstedt clearly saw early on. Silvstedt also recalled Melania's strict approach to fitness.

After a tuna salad, she said, Melania would be up the stairs, trying to burn off calories. It is the kind of detail that, while small, says more than a glossy profile ever could. There was no glamour in it, just repetition, control and a single-mindedness that appears to have followed Melania far beyond Paris.

Melania Trump And A Model's Discipline

The interview also touched on the kind of ambition that can look ordinary from the outside and relentless up close. Silvstedt remembered Melania saying she wanted to be like Sophia Loren, and claimed that, even then, her former roommate had the looks and focus to go further than most people around her. It is an anecdote, not a thesis, but it fits the broader picture Silvstedt painted.

She said she ran into Melania once in New York before Melania became First Lady, though the two later lost touch. Silvstedt described her former roommate's path as 'incredible' and said she had never imagined Melania would end up in the White House. Most people in a shared Paris apartment do not become global political figures.

There is also a useful tension in Silvstedt's recollection. On the one hand, she describes a woman who was modest and almost domestic, spending much of her time at home. On the other hand, she presents someone with a clear self-image and a hard edge beneath the calm surface. That combination has long been part of Melania Trump's public fascination, and Silvstedt's memories underline why.

Melania Trump And The Long Climb

Silvstedt's own career gives her remarks extra weight. After the Paris years, she was drawn into the orbit of Hugh Hefner, appeared as Playboy's December 1996 Playmate of the Month and was later named Playmate of the Year for 1997.

She has since worked as a model, presenter and actress, including a role in Melrose Place and the film Boat Trip.

The old apartment, then, becomes more than a nostalgic footnote. It is a snapshot of two young women at the start of their public lives, before fame, politics and the weight of image management changed everything.

Silvstedt's recollections suggest that Melania Trump was never casual about her own future, even when she was still just another model trying to make it in Paris. Silvstedt does not present Melania as cold or calculated, just intensely focused. Melania displayed a purposeful approach from an early stage in her career, with an awareness of the life she wanted to build and the steps required to achieve it. In that portrayal, her later rise to prominence appears less the result of chance and more the continuation of a long-held sense of direction.