Jodie Kidd on Fashion, Fast Cars and Finding a Second Career in Motorsport

It's rare in life to have had as varied a career as Jodie Kidd. From being one of Britain's most recognisable 90's supermodels to fronting the male-dominated world of motorsport, Kidd has done what very few before have even attempted, swapping catwalks for cockpits and proving that you're never too late to pursue your passions.

And passionate, she is: she's loved cars since a young age, admitting when we chat to a childhood obsession with Ayrton Senna. In later life, a chance encounter with none other than Jeremy Clarkson changed the course of her career - and the rest is history.

Below, she chats about her life in motorsport - on her early years in the fashion industry, the scepticism she's faced in a male-dominated industry, and her drive to champion the next generation of female talent. Plus, she deep dives into her passion for electric vehicles, and the role she reckons they're set to play both on and off the track.

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Jodie Kidd: "I’m hopeful we’ll find a female Formula 1 racer who can compete alongside the boys."

What’s your earliest motorsport memory? What first got you interested in it?

Watching Ayrton Senna race in Formula 1. He was a big part of our lives. My nephew has Ayrton as his middle name; that’s how obsessed with him we were. He was definitely my earliest memory.

What was the moment that made you realise you were ready for a career change from modelling - and how did you know motorsport was the way to go?

I decided to stop modelling after around a decade of a wonderful career in the industry and accidentally fell into motorsport by taking part in the Gumball Rally.

Through doing that, I had a chance encounter with Jeremy Clarkson, which led to him inviting me onto Top Gear. I did the ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ lap, went to the top of the leaderboard and fell in love with cars and racing from that moment onwards.

Are there any similarities between the worlds of modelling and motorsport? What are they and how do they compare?

They’re very different, but high adrenaline is a strong similarity in both. It sounds strange, but you get the same adrenaline walking down a catwalk as you do when racing cars.

What makes EVs in particular so important to you?

They’re the future and a necessity in order for the world to evolve - we can’t be living off petrol and crude oil forever. Some of the cars are fantastic, and you can get some incredibly quick cars with extraordinary power, so it ticks that box.

I just love the ease and the feeling I get from driving one! They're so smooth, and you can drive anywhere in them, whether it’s a short or a longer drive, especially as I recently learned that there are more than 118,000 public chargers now – nearly twice as many as fuel pumps!

I recently worked with the Department for Transport (DfT) to showcase the vast UK charging network. I curated my own electric road trip from Land’s End to the Angel of the North and found chargers at the most beautiful, unexpected places. You stop, charge up, take in the view, and you're back on the road.

What’s one thing you wish more people knew about EVs in motorsport?

I wish more people realised the extent to which EV motorsport is driving technological progress off the track. Series like Formula E and electric off‑road racing show that EVs can be competitive, durable, and exciting, not just environmentally friendly.

As E racing is growing, so is the demand for EVs in the real world – in March this year, the UK’s EV market achieved its strongest performance to date. Registrations of EV's reached an all-time high with the highest monthly total ever recorded.

Even in Formula 1, the increasing use of hybrid battery technology has significantly changed how cars are designed and raced, and these innovations are slowly filtering into everyday road cars. EV motorsport isn’t just entertainment - it’s actively shaping the future of vehicle technology.

What challenges have you faced entering a very male-dominated sport? How have you overcome them?

It’s been difficult because when I started racing, it was the 90s and early 2000s when there were very few women racers. Thankfully, this is something that has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. At the time, however, for me, it was tough because people didn’t take me seriously -especially as I had come from a modelling background. It’s fair to say that it isn’t the norm to see models go from fashion week to pit lanes. When women were initially spotted on race tracks, it was as a spectator, and when my career started, it was incredibly rare to see women in race overalls. It was definitely tough, but I got over it and showed the world that women can race too.

How has the industry changed over the last ten years?

Dramatically! We’ve seen women come to the forefront in engineering and in running F1 teams, such as Claire Williams. There’s even now an all-female race series, so it has undeniably come on leaps and bounds in the last ten years.

What do you hope the future of motorsport looks like?

I’m hugely optimistic. It seems that everyone is obsessed with Formula 1 now; it’s become huge! I’m hopeful that with the amount of intrigue, we’ll find an amazing woman Formula 1 racer very soon who can compete alongside the boys.

What would your advice be to young women who dream of a career in motorsport?

There are so many more routes into motorsport now for women, whether that’s engineering, design, or the racing itself. You just have to stay driven and keep putting yourself out there. Despite the fact that there is now far more opportunity, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy; setbacks are inevitable - but that’s part of it. The important thing is not to let the setbacks define you. Take the negativity, turn it into motivation, and use it to push yourself forward. If you keep working hard and keep going, the opportunities really are there.