Model Sui He poses on the catwalk at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in London on December 2, 2014. Photo: IC

Australian model Shanina Shaik claimed in an interview with Australian media the Daily Telegraph that the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will not be held in 2019.  

"Unfortunately the Victoria's Secret show won't be happening this year," the 28-year-old model told the Daily Telegraph. 

In May, The New York Times reported on the possible cancelation of the show. 

The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show aired for one hour on ABC in 2001, attracting 12.4 million viewers, the highest viewership numbers for the show.

The show switched to CBS the following year and back to ABC in 2018. However, audience numbers continued to decline, with the show in 2018 only bringing in 3.27 million viewers. 

This decrease in viewership may be the main reason behind the choice to cancel the event. 

According to the New York Times report, Leslie Wexner, CEO of Victoria's Secret's parent company L Brands, said that he and his colleagues "have decided to re-think the traditional Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Going forward we don't believe network television is the right fit."

Victoria's Secret and its models have a large number of fans in China. 

Chinese models that have taken part in past shows, including Liu Wen, Xi Mengyao, He Sui and Ju Xiaowen, have captured a lot of attention from Chinese audiences.

In 2017, Victoria's Secret held its annual fashion show in Shanghai. It is one of three Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows that have been held out of the US. 

That same year, Victoria's Secret opened its first store in the Chinese mainland. 

US model Gigi Hadid and US singer Katy Perry were both originally scheduled to appear at the show, but did not end up making an appearance. 

According to reports, Perry had worn a dress with sunflowers on it during one of her concerts. Sunflowers had been adopted as a symbol the year before by anti-China protesters. Perry also waved a Taiwanese flag during the concert in show of support for "Taiwan independence."

She was replaced by Harry Styles from British boy band One Direction. 

In February 2017, Hadid posted an Instagram video in which she squinted her eyes in imitation of Asians.