Two famous personalities collided last November at the world’s first tiger summit in St. Petersburg.
Naomi Campbell, the supermodel with a fiery reputation, interviewed the suave Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during the summit. GQ Magazine reports they will publish the interview in this year’s March issue.
The two discussed fitness regimes as well as Putin’s popularity among women. Putin said he swims daily, works out at a gym and uses his spare time to try to squeeze in extracurricular fitness activities with friends. He also explores the extreme side of keeping fit through bareback horseriding, motor racing and Judo.
When not working out, Putin receives gifts of adoration from Russia’s women. A group of journalism students from Moscow State University produced a lingere calendar for Putin’s 58th birthday, for example. One of the suggestive captions read, “You put out forest fires, but I’m still burning.”
A rival group produced a calendar where the girls wore all black with their mouths taped shut.
“How do you feel about the students who posed for you in the calendar?” Campbell asked.
“If you come out in support of someone like me, you’re going to be accused of trying to ingratiate yourself,” Putin said. “The girls in the erotic calendar were courageous and they were not scared. As student journalists, they couldn’t fail to understand what might have been said to them after doing this. Nonetheless, they were not deterred and did the calendar anyway. So, frankly, that’s what I liked the most.”