Paulina Porizkova Flashed Her Gray Hair on TV to Send a Message to the Youth-Obsessed Modeling World

Paulina Porizkova has been shouting from the rooftops about ageism in Hollywood and the modeling industry. If you haven’t heard her yet, she is reminding everyone that society has a long way to go before they are age-inclusive — life doesn’t end at 50.

While the 56-year-old supermodel feels like designers have “gotten a lot better now” about using “the movement of body inclusivity and color inclusivity and celebrating different beauty as beautiful” (although it still has a long way to go), she is frustrated by the lack of opportunities for women in an older season of life. Telling People TV‘s Jeremy Parsons that “ageism, babe” is the final frontier for the modeling industry to tackle, she pointed to her gorgeous gray hair and revealed that for a time, she “felt ashamed to be aging.”

“Overall as a person, I’m the best I’ve ever been. So I’m not ready to be dismissed,” Porizkova continued. “You don’t get to dismiss me because I have some wrinkles and sags and gray hair now when I’m kind of fabulous, the most fabulous I’ve ever been.” That fierceness was on display in her recent ad for Laura Geller Beauty where she donned a bikini and talked about the power of growing older. That strength also found her a spot on the CBS reality-adventure show, Beyond the Edge, where she tests her limits in the jungles of Panama with other celebrities.

But for anyone in the fashion industry who needs a stunning supermodel to star in their campaign or walk the runway, Porizkova is throwing her hat — and her gray hair — in the ring. “This is me at my best,” she said. “Deal with it!”

Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity women who have spoken out about ageism.