He Was Once One of the World's Highest-Paid Male Models — And at 67, His Transformation Has People Doing a Double Take — 25+ Photos

The long-haired heartthrob once stared from bookstore shelves around the world, but his more recent appearance has left admirers sharply divided.

In photos spanning the 1990s through 2025, the Italian model transformed from a fantasy hero into a mostly retired collector with a private life and some unusual habits. His latest appearance, however, has changed enough to make some people question whether they were even looking at the same man.

A Teenage Discovery Led to a Record-Breaking Payday

His career began in Milan when he was barely 14. While working out at a gym, he caught the attention of renowned photographer Oliviero Toscani, who told the teenager he should become a model.

The young athlete did not know who Toscani was, so he simply gave the photographer his father's telephone number. Toscani called, secured permission to hire him for a major campaign, and launched a career that would soon carry the teenager far beyond Italy.

At 19, the future heartthrob arrived in New York City and walked into the Ford modeling agency without an appointment. He left with a contract.

Another major opportunity appeared the following day when photographer Barry McKinley hired him for the Gap's American launch. As the model later recalled, leading men in the industry could earn about $120,000 annually at the time, but his first American assignment paid close to $150,000.

"So I set new standards."

Before most people knew his name, he was already earning more from one job than many elite male models made in an entire year. Work with Versace and other recognizable brands followed, but a far more surprising form of fame was waiting in bookstores.

Women at a Miami Club Recognized Him First

In 1987, the model accepted assignments posing for romance-novel covers. He apparently had no idea that some of those books had already been printed and released.

That changed during an evening at a Miami club. Three women approached and told him that he looked exactly like the man pictured on their novels. He initially assumed they were flirting.

About 20 minutes later, the women returned carrying the books, and the resemblance was impossible to dismiss. When he finally saw the covers, he said, "Oh my God, that's me. Yeah, that's me. That's weird."

The accidental discovery opened an entirely different chapter in his career. His long hair, muscular build, and intensely romantic poses eventually appeared on more than 1,300 covers, turning him into one of the most recognizable figures in the genre.

Those images gave readers a face for the heroes they imagined. Speaking about that connection in January 2025, he said romance novels allowed people to form their own fantasies and briefly step away from unhappy parts of their lives.

His appeal soon spread beyond publishing. Fitness videos, hair-care collaborations, and a Sam's Club clothing line followed, along with appearances in movies such as "Dude, Where's My Car?" and "Zoolander."

The model had effectively become an influencer before social media gave that role a name. Ironically, he would later reject the platforms that made modern influencers famous.

The Man Behind the Covers Was Fabio

The mystery model was Fabio Lanzoni, better known simply as Fabio. Born in Milan, he became a 1990s pop-culture fixture whose first name alone was enough to summon an image of windblown hair and an unbuttoned shirt.

Fabio's exaggeratedly romantic public persona made him easy to parody, but he was unusually disciplined away from the cameras. He trained constantly and maintained the physique that helped make him famous long after his peak modeling years.

His popularity also made him one of advertising's most memorable faces. From 1994 until 2016, he served as a spokesperson for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" and appeared in numerous commercials that helped turn the product's name into a familiar catchphrase.

Fabio apparently took the endorsement home with him, quite literally. In 2016, he revealed that he carried roughly 25 to 30 tubs to Italy whenever he visited because his parents could not buy it there and had become devoted to it.

"They put it on pasta with some Parmesan cheese."

Away from his playful commercials, Fabio's family endured a painful loss. His sister received treatment for advanced ovarian cancer from Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski before she died.

Burzynski's experimental treatments later became the subject of an investigation by journalist Liz Szabo. When she interviewed Fabio in 2014, he remained supportive of the controversial doctor despite his sister's death.

Fabio's public life produced another serious moment years earlier. In late 2007, Fabio became involved in a confrontation with George Clooney at a Beverly Hills restaurant after Clooney reportedly accused women dining with Fabio of photographing him.

The women had won a charity raffle connected to Fabio's company, and he stepped in after he believed Clooney treated them disrespectfully. Fabio later gave the Guardian a heated account of the exchange and insisted he could have knocked the actor down within seconds.

Clooney later acknowledged that fighting Fabio probably would not have ended well for him. The peculiar celebrity clash only strengthened the sense that the romance-cover hero was not merely posing as a protective tough guy.

One Lost Relationship Never Completely Left Him

Fabio was an extremely eligible bachelor during his greatest years of fame. In 1993, someone even "purchased" a date with him for $16,000 at an auction.

Behind the playful bachelor image, however, was a relationship he came to view very differently with age. The woman was also a model, but Fabio has never disclosed her identity.

He said his own behavior caused the relationship to fail because she wanted a settled future while he was still not ready. She eventually married someone else and had three daughters. Fabio did not interfere with the life she built, though his feelings remained strikingly firm.

"When you really love a person, it's forever. It's my fault, and I take full responsibility. All she wanted was to have a future with me, but I was too wild back then."

Years earlier, he had expressed the same belief even more directly, telling The Guardian that he felt some women never dated or married for love anymore. "Not bitter. I had true love once. I know what true love is. True love is forever," he responded when asked if he was resentful about it.

In 2021, Fabio was still dating and continued to hope for marriage and children. A recent outing at the time involved dinner and a ride in one of his many awesome cars, though an impressive garage was clearly not enough to persuade him to settle.

He wanted a funny, grounded woman who could tolerate nature and would not be frightened by insects. Above all, she could not be consumed by social media. "There is quantity, but I want quality," he explained while discussing his search. "I still want to have kids."

His Private Life Comes With Eight Dogs and No Selfies

Fabio doesn't want a partner obsessed with online apps because he doesn't have his own social-media presence and has been blunt about why. In a 2016 interview, he criticized the urge to document every location and ordinary moment with a selfie.

"Something right now that drives me crazy is people are always taking a selfie," he said. "You have to take a selfie and post it, ya know, 'Look at me, I'm on Fifth Avenue. Now I'm on Sixth Avenue. Now I'm on Seventh.' Who cares?"

He believed constant attention to phones and tablets prevented people from experiencing their own lives. Fabio preferred to stay present, a philosophy that made his disappearance from the daily celebrity cycle easier to understand.

Still, his distance from social media did not mean he had withdrawn from everything he enjoyed. After turning 65, Fabio described himself as semi-to-mostly retired and said he remained healthy, exercised every day, and ate carefully.

He also lived with eight Rottweilers and maintained a collection of 31 sports cars. Modeling was largely behind him, although he joked that a sufficiently large payday might persuade him to reconsider.

Television remained a possibility. Fabio imagined an updated version of "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" centered on extravagant cars, motorcycles, yachts, resorts, islands, and watches.

His Anti-Aging Routine Is as Unusual as His Fame

Fabio has attributed his appearance to habits he followed for decades. He works out six or seven days each week, avoids sugar, and has never smoked or consumed alcohol.

His decision to stay away from drugs and liquor was shaped by tragedy. When Fabio was 16, one of his friends died from a heroin overdose.

He has also claimed to sleep in a hyperbaric chamber instead of a conventional bed because he believes it reverses aging. That detail may sound tailor-made for a man whose image depended on looking timeless, but Fabio has denied using more familiar cosmetic shortcuts.

In 2021, he confirmed that his trademark hair was natural and said he had never undergone plastic surgery. But he was not sentimentally attached to the long style, despite its importance to fans, and remained open to cutting it.

When Fabio recreated his famous 1993 People cover three decades later in 2024, the similarities were difficult to miss. The same long hair framed his face, while his commitment to fitness remained visible in the new portrait.

A separate People interview found him satisfied with his mostly retired life. He was healthy, single, and still surrounded by the machines and animals he loved.

Yet later images did not inspire one unanimous verdict. Some viewers saw the same handsome romance icon at an older age, while others questioned whether they were looking at the same person.

Recent Photos Divided Fans Over How Much He Had Changed

When photos of the now-67-year-old Fabio circulated in 2025, people focused on his hair, facial features, and noticeably more secluded lifestyle. Reactions beneath an Instagram post ranged from affectionate to skeptical.

One admirer wrote, "Still handsome and living his best life❤️🙌." Another took a much darker view, commenting, "He became a hermit. What a sad life."

His hair drew practical advice from someone who said, "Still handsome, just needs a haircut and to let his natural color grow in." Another person defended him against unflattering images: "Oh please.... I see him all the time. He looks great! Bad pictures happen to all of us."

The admiration continued with, "He's still pretty hot! 😍🔥😍" However, one skeptical commenter insisted, "That's not the same person different lips and eye color to start [sic]."

Someone who appeared to know him personally offered a warmer assessment: "Legend and a GREAT guy. Nicest person in real life ! [sic]" Another reaction was simple but revealing: "He looks happier."

Those comments echoed the response to an earlier encounter. When influencer Natalie Rose ran into Fabio in 2021, one person beneath her Instagram post wrote, "I cannot believe this!" Although that could've also been a joke referencing his butter commercials.

Another recognized the face immediately despite the passing decades: "I remember him from the early 80s. He still looks the same."

Fabio's appearance has naturally evolved since the era when he dominated romance covers, but the photos preserve the qualities that made him unmistakable. At nearly 70, the hair is still long, the physique still reflects years of discipline, and the former fantasy hero seems perfectly content to live beyond the spotlight.