Erin O'Connor 'concealed' her true self when working as a model
Model Erin O'Connor has revealed she is "thoroughly neurodivergent" and spent years hiding her real self while working in the fashion industry - declaring it took "perimenopause, an ADHD diagnosis and a divorce to put things into perspective".
Erin O'Connor is "thoroughly neurodivergent" and spent years hiding her real self while working in the fashion industry.
The 48-year-old model has opened up about her experiences in a new interview revealing she didn't truly understand herself until after going through perimenopause, splitting from her partner and being diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
She told Grazia magazine: "I’m so sick of not telling the truth ... I am thoroughly neurodivergent. It took perimenopause, an ADHD diagnosis and a divorce to put things into perspective ...
"For a very long time I had the best time masquerading, in every sense of the word ... [Working in fashion] allowed me to conceal … the person that is here now..
"I think it was … elegant concealment ... People would say: 'You’re so confident.' And I’d think – no. It’s manufactured poise' ... I got used to living like that. Moving from one version of myself to the next."
She added: "I masked a lot. Modelling made that easier. You’re allowed to become someone else."
Erin took a step back from the modelling industry as she focused on raising her children, but she has returned to the business in recent years, starring in a campaign for Burberry in 2024 as well as appearing in the brand's Spring 2026 adverts celebrating the design house's iconic trench coats.
In an interview with The Times newspaper last year, Erin insisted her two sons - from her relationship with Stephen Gibson - need to see their mother being busy with work.
She explained: "Emotionally, you know, the kids will still question why and where I’m going. But it’s also really important that you keep almost challenging that on their behalf, I think as an act of love.
"To promote independence and self-sufficiency and that Mummy has her thing as well as Daddy, and one day you’ll hopefully have your thing too."
She added of co-parenting her boys: "The thing is, we brought them here. And I think they deserve to feel that absolute, unbridled love.
"Every separation, honestly, is very tough. And it’s very wearing. Otherwise you wouldn’t have got to that very painful decision."
