Helena Christensen was worried that her grandmother would die of shock when she posed nude.

The supermodel, who turns 41 on Christmas Day, stripped off for a racy photo shoot for Elle magazine but says she only agreed to it because she know the shots would be subtle.

“I have no problems with showing my body. I just wanted the nudity to be in that normal, subtle way because my grandmother is still alive and I want to keep her for another 15 years. I don’t want her to get a shock.”

Helena also says she would like to follow in the footsteps of fellow supermodel Kate Moss and launch her own clothing range: “Obviously, Kate has an exclusive style, so it’s a huge value she can pick the things she picks. I would be super-happy to have a big company behind me like that, who will trust your style and base whole collections on it. That’s the ultimate.”