IMO it was the right path to take, to concentrate on her HF career before moving to VS. I don't know what you mean that VS wanted to "bag" her -- give her a contract, make her an Angel, or just book her for a shoot. But most of the non-HF girls who do VS consistently have historically had a very difficult time getting into HF after VS. Alessandro and Miranda are the exceptions and it's only relatively recently that that paradigm shift occurred. Otherwise, we've seen many more established HF girls move on to VS than vice versa.
The problem for Catherine is that she hurt herself by taking time out from modeling and not taking care of herself and her looks while she took her break. The industry has moved on to other girls. Whether it will give her another shot, and how much she really wants to get back on the A-list, remains to be seen.