Helena Christensen has turned down ''a lot'' of work for the sake of her family.

The 46-year-old supermodel - who lives in New York with her partner Paul Banks and her 15-year-old son Mingus - has insisted she has always ranked her home life higher than her career on her list of priorities.

She said: ''Time-wise I've turned down a lot. It's very important for me to be with my family for special occasions - birthdays, holidays - I just turn it down and don't even think about it twice.

''I can see why my agents were a little frustrated with me at certain points. Relationships are the hardest and most beautiful thing, besides having a child, but they go hand in hand.''

And Helena has revealed she relies on her intuition as there have been some jobs in the past which ''didn't feel right''.

She added to Red magazine: ''A lot of work didn't feel right in my stomach. I do very strongly and intuitively feel things and that has been very helpful.

''You really need to have a strong sense of yourself, what you can commit to and what you're capable of and what will make you happy.

''It's tumultuous, especially in your twenties when you're thrown into the business. It's very tense and it gets very hectic.''