Adriana Lima thanks crowd at final Victoria’s Secret show

An emotional Adriana Lima bowed her head in thanks and crossed her hands over her heart as she made her 18th and final runway walk in the annual holiday Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York on Saturday.

A tribute video played Thursday during the taping of the extravaganza, declaring Lima "the greatest angel of all time" while Fatboy Slim's Praise You was played.

The show will be broadcast December 2 on ABC and in 190 countries and regions around the world.

The Struts, Shawn Mendes, The Chainsmokers, Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha, Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey performed on the runway at a downtown Manhattan venue as 60 models walked, including sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Winnie Harlow.

Backstage before the show, the 37-year-old Lima, a mother of two, and other models lounged in short black robes bedazzled with gold stars. They spoke to journalists while sitting at makeup stations and lounging on couches.

"I thought over the years I would get more relaxed," Lima, a blue-eyed Brazilian beauty, told The Associated Press. "No, I still get nervous, just like at my first Victoria's Secret show."

Another angel mom, 30-year-old Namibian blonde Behati Prinsloo, smiled wide as she primped backstage. Prinsloo, who is married to Adam Levine, has been an angel since 2009 but this was her return to the show after two years off, just eight months after the birth of their second daughter.

"It's such an honor to just be part of it yet again after having kids," she said.

Giving birth gave her extra confidence, Prinsloo said.

"It made me work a little harder," she said. "It made me appreciate my body so much, what it can do, create life and then, honestly, get back and do this."

AP