Los Angeles - Not only does everyone in Germany know her, but SHE is also a fixture on US television. Now the world-famous celebrity has shared a sugar-sweet picture from her childhood: who was able to impress at the photo shoot with kitten Nicki?

On Friday, Heidi Klum (51) surprised her more than 12 million followers on Instagram with an insight into her childhood. You can see how the future top model looks skillfully into the camera and the cat obviously felt very comfortable too.

"Found this. 10 years old with my cat Nicki," the world-famous celebrity wrote under her Instagram post.

It's clear: even as a little girl, Heidi, who was born in 1973, knew how to impress in front of the camera.

However, her real modeling career didn't begin until a few years later: in 1992, she won the Model '92 contest on Thomas Gottschalk 's Late Night Show (74). She celebrated her international breakthrough in 1997 when she was cast by underwear label Victoria's Secret - the first German ever to do so.

The 51-year-old recently announced that she would be leaving the successful US casting show "America's Got Talent" after eleven years .

Instead, Heidi Klum apparently wants to concentrate on her role as a judge on another successful show on US television: "Project Runway".

Regardless of this, fans of the Bergisch Gladbach native can look forward to the anniversary season of "Germany's Next Topmodel" .

Heidi promises: "The new season will be one big birthday party." The guest list is impressive.

GNTM season 20 starts on February 13 at 20.15 on ProSieben.