From quiet Midlands to top of the world

She's gone from being a skinny, barefoot farm girl and a school dropout (with her parents' blessing) to becoming one of the world's highest-earning models.

Last year, Candice Swanepoel earned $3-million. She was romantically linked to rapper Kanye West and counts Leonardo DiCaprio as a friend.

The 22-year-old, who grew up in Mooi River in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, is listed as the 10th-highest-earning model in the world by Forbes.

She joins Kate Moss, Heidi Klum and Gisele Bündchen (who topped the list with an annual salary of $45-million) on the publication's top 10 list of high-earning supermodels.

Her proud parents, Eileen and Willem Swanepoel, spoke to the Sunday Times at their home in Somerset West in the Western Cape this week.

"The tabloids have linked Candice to Zac Efron and Kanye West, but that is not true. She has met them, but they haven't dated," said her mother.

The Swanepoels moved from a Mooi River dairy farm to the Cape in 2008. Pictures of Candice and her brother, Stephen, a professional golfer, line the walls of their home.

"As a young girl, she was teased for being so tall and thin," said Eileen, adding that whenever she visited her daughter abroad, she always carried biltong for her.

Candice's skinny frame sparked a heated debate in tabloids this year.

"She called me and said, 'Mom, I've been working really hard and lost a few kilos. There's going to be some bad publicity, but just know that I'm fine.'"

A scout "discovered" her at a Durban flea market when she was 15 . She left school two years later. By 19, she had moved into her own New York penthouse.

In 2007, she was chosen as an ambassador for Victoria's Secret and, in February this year, a front-page shoot for Italian Vogue catapulted her into the fashion limelight .

"She's met Heidi Klum," said her mother. "They've worked together. When I was there last, I also met Seal (Klum's musician husband) and the boys from (rock band) Kings of Leon."

Her father said she initially would call him for financial advice, but she now had a financial manager. He said that, looking back, it had been the right decision to let their daughter leave school. "When this whole thing exploded, it was a difficult decision to let her leave school, as we value education highly. The only sad thing is that we don't get to see her often."

Candice is to visit her family in August. Eileen said her well-heeled daughter shared her good fortune - and stilettos - with her . "W e wear the same size shoe, so you can just imagine the shoes she brings me. The last was a pair of Louboutins!"