Celebrity birthdays: 5 things you didn’t know about Elle Macpherson

Can you believe Elle Macpherson is 50? Find out other surprising facts about the model turned businesswoman, from her law ambitions to her strong views on lingerie.

1. Elle wanted to be a lawyer Growing up in a suburb of North Shore in Sydney, Elle wasn't dreaming of becoming a model. After finishing Killara High School, Elle enrolled to study law at the University of Sydney. In fact, Elle revealed to Jonathan Ross that the reason she started modelling was to earn enough cash to pay for her law books. Elle headed over to New York City, signed with Click Model Management, and began modelling in 1982 in a TV ad for Tab Cola. And we all know how that panned out.

2. Elle is a jock 
It's not just glamorous fashion shoots, TV presenting and business meetings for Elle (she has her own lingerie range, beauty line and model company); she also loves to find time to take part in sport. 
Elle described herself as "like a jock" to Stylist, explaining she's the kind of person who gets up at 6am on holiday so she can go surfing, paddleboarding, snorkelling, running and then do a yoga class. 
She revealed she loves the "community" of sport and often does sit-ups, push-ups and circuit training in an "old-fashioned men's sweatbox gym", which she describes as "really fun". 

3. Ambassador Elle 
Elle became so well-known, starring on front covers of Sports Illustrated, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Time magazine (who gave her the nickname 'The Body'), that her home country was suitably impressed. 
So impressed, that the Australian government offered Elle the position of unofficial ambassador in its tourist commission. 
She's gone on to hold various Ambassador roles for charities and foundations, including UNICEF, Smile Foundation and RED, which raises money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 

4. Elle can speak fluent French 
Given that Elle was married to French fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon, and had children (Arpad Flynn and Aurelius Cy Andrea) with French financier Arpad Busson, it's handy she's fluent in French. 
Elle can also speak pretty good Italian and Spanish. Is there anything she can't do? 

5. Elle owns 50 sets of lingerie 
As Elle has her own lingerie line, Elle Macpherson Intimates, it's probably not too surprising that she has quite a few sets of underwear, but to have 50 is quite something. 
She told Easy Living: "I believe every woman should have seven sets of beautiful lingerie. That's the absolute minimum. I have about 50, but if you have seven then you don't have to worry if it takes you a couple of days to wash a set." You hear that, women of the world? Get knicker buying.