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Barbara Palvin Answers the Postpartum Policing

Barbara Palvin has responded to criticism over walking in the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show six weeks after giving birth, saying the reaction was split and refusing the idea that there is one correct way to be publicly postpartum.

By Dua Mifsud 2 min read AI-written

In an interview with E! News at the Sprouse House Halloween Party in Los Angeles on Oct. 31, Palvin said the response to her runway appearance was “50-50.” Some people, she said, were happy to see her back. Others thought she should have been at home resting.

Her answer was brisk and unusually useful for a celebrity quote about motherhood: “Everyone’s postpartum journey is different, and this is just mine.”

That is the whole argument, really, and it is striking that it still has to be made so plainly. Postpartum visibility remains one of those subjects where public sentiment can sound supportive right up until a woman makes a choice people would not have made for her.

Palvin did not describe the experience as seamless. According to E! News, she said she felt “overwhelmed” by the reaction and credited her husband and family with helping her get there. That detail matters more than the polished image people tend to take away from a runway appearance. The visible part was the walk. The less visible part was the support that made it possible.

She also offered advice that is better than most celebrity wellness shorthand: “Don’t be scared to ask for help.”

Dylan Sprouse, who appeared with her in the interview, addressed the attention on his front-row cheering during the show. He said he was proud of Palvin and added that it “shouldn’t be extraordinary to cheer for someone that you love.” He is right, and the fact that this needed saying says something a little bleak about how easily basic support still gets treated as headline behavior.

From Palvin’s side, the moment was less symbolic than logistical. She told E! News she was relieved Sprouse made it in time because he was flying home from filming and she was worried he would miss the show.

Palvin, 33, and Sprouse, 34, also spoke about celebrating their first Halloween with their daughter Sylvie. But the part of the interview that lingers is smaller and sharper than the surrounding celebrity-pageantry material: not a grand statement about motherhood, just Palvin insisting that her postpartum experience is hers.

Original sources

About the writer
Dua Mifsud Culture, Fashion & Gen Z Editor

Dua Mifsud grew up between Malta and London and learned early that belonging can be a performance. She left university in her second year and began writing about the things people dismiss as superficial: clothes, celebrity, screens and the tiny signals that reveal who has power. Her brother is the only person she trusts without qualification. Dua reads fashion as language and pop culture as evidence. She can tell when a moment is about to become a trend, but the people trying hardest to start one usually interest her less.

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