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Heidi Klum's daughter Leni's heartwarming reunion with dad Seal remembered

The singer adopted Heidi's firstborn as a baby

Hannah Hargrave
US Deputy Editor
December 28, 2022
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Heidi Klum's daughter, Leni, reunited with her dad Seal earlier this year - and the moment was a firm favorite with HELLO! readers. 

Since they're rarely seen in public together, it's not hard to see why fans couldn't get enough of the happy day together.

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Their connection happened just days after the British singer made a heartbreaking revelation about his childhood too, making it that much more special. 

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The 18-year-old model and college student was photographed cuddling the Kiss From a Rose hitmaker while attending the US Open.

The father-daughter duo were beaming for the cameras as they made their way into the sporting event in New York where Leni is attending college.

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Their sweet meeting came after Seal conducted an emotional and heartfelt new interview to reveal details of his childhood and upbringing. 

leni klum seal heidi© Photo: Getty Images

Leni and Seal reunited at the US Open

While chatting on the Think About It podcast with Victoria Azarenka, he talked about the love that he has received from his fans, and admitted he didn't get that from his own family.

Seal said: "I'm the luckiest person on the planet. I can ... I wake up every day and I go, 'Oh, my God, I cannot believe how fortunate I am in my life,' you know, that I get to do the thing that I love, the thing that I would do anyway, but I get to do it for a living."

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He continued: "And guess what? People tell me they like it. I mean, that is phenomenal. It's like the love that I always wanted from my parents. The love that I wanted my father to show me. The kind of putting his arm around me and telling me, 'You know, Seal, you did a great job.' Like, I never got that from my father, even on his deathbed.

heidi klum children© Photo: Instagram

Heidi went on to have three more children with Seal before they divorced

The star - who adopted Leni, and went on to have three more children with Heidi - said he's forever grateful for the adoration he has received from his fans. 

"But every time I get a compliment from a fan or from someone, that is like that proverbial hand around my shoulder, telling me, 'You did well.' That is my drive," Seal said. "But it only works if I am authentic, and if it initiated from me, for me. The fact that some other people happen to like it is a wonderful by-product."

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He also remembered the moment his parents heard him sing publicly for the first time. "I'll emphasize that my parents had never heard me sing. They didn't even know I could sing. But anyway, they were in the audience," he recounted.

Heidi Klum Seal Leni© Photo: Getty Images

Seal adopted Leni when she was a baby 

"I was so afraid and I kind of dragged my feet onto the stage, and I remember walking onto the stage, looking out at all of the parents and teachers in the audience, my parents included. And it being the scariest, loneliest place, and I just wanted the stage to open up and swallow me, and I just wanted to disappear."

He continued: "And I remember being so afraid, and closing my eyes and getting through this song and being lost in it, and finishing it. And it was like, one of those scenes in the movie, where you could hear a pin drop. And at the end of it, everyone clapped, and I opened my eyes and my parents are like, they'd never seen anything like that."

"That place that was the scariest place in the world for me to be in, and all of a sudden, it became home, it became the warmest place," he concluded. "Because of the adoration and the love and the acknowledgment, that thing of being seen, I felt something at that point."

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