Victoria’s Secret faces backlash after Romee Strijd revealed that she will not walk in the 2026 fashion show. The Dutch model shared her disappointment in two TikTok videos after the brand left her out of this year’s lineup. Her news upset fans who wanted to see familiar faces return to the runway. Some viewers have now threatened to boycott the show over the casting choices.
Victoria’s Secret fans threaten to boycott the 2026 fashion show after Romee Strijd is left off the lineup
Strijd shared her casting experience in two TikTok videos, explaining that she had hoped to return after becoming a mother. She walked in five consecutive shows from 2014 through 2018 before taking a break in 2019. She traveled to New York for casting with the brand’s new team and continued training while waiting for an answer. Five weeks later, with the show only days away, she still had no clear decision.
Strijd later confirmed that the brand had rejected her, saying, “It’s a no, which is fine, because rejection is part of modeling.” However, Strijd said the way the team handled the decision caused more pain than the rejection itself. She heard that the team thought she would not fit this year’s show, but she questioned the timing of that decision. “Just be honest, just tell me, and I can go on with my life and let it go, because it’s fine,” she explained. She also said she felt unsupported by her agency and experienced mental stress while waiting for an answer.
The model said she does not plan to audition for future shows because she disliked how the process unfolded. She wants to keep her positive memories of working with the brand. Meanwhile, fans shared their disappointment on X and called for a boycott. One user wrote that they were “genuinely stunned” that Victoria’s Secret rejected Strijd after she spent months preparing for her comeback as a mother of two.
Others have slammed the brand for selecting influencers over regular models. One commenter claimed Victoria’s Secret had “lost their f–ing minds” by selecting influencers over its original Angels. Another called the influencers “talentless” and urged people not to watch the show. The backlash shows how strongly some fans feel about the lineup, even as Strijd says she wants to move on from the experience.
