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By Colette Fahy
Amelia Thomas poses for the all-important photograph that could take her through to the next stage of the competitionThe current season of hit TV show Britain’s Next Top Model is in full swing – and this week it’s bikini time! Colette Fahy joined the remaining contestants on location in Spain for an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at this episode’s photo-shoot challenge…
It’s 7am in Alicante, Spain, and at the serene and stunning Sha Wellness Clinic and Spa, the nine remaining contestants still in the running to be Britain’s Next Top Model have already been in hair and make-up for two hours. This may be a TV show, but it’s serious stuff!
As fans of this hit reality programme know, this year it is bigger and better than before – not least because legendary supermodel Elle Macpherson is now at the helm, leading a new line-up of judges and attracting an impressive list of guests – including swimwear designer to the stars Melissa Odabash, whose designs the wannabe Elles are modelling in Spain.
This is a one-day photo-shoot and each girl has one chance to nail a shot that could see her swimming through to the next round of the competition. While waiting for their turn in hair and make-up, the contestants are tucking into the breakfast buffet: muesli, fruit and porridge (wisely, many come back for seconds – it’s going to be a long one).
I quiz make-up artist Lee Pycroft (a favourite of Diane Kruger, Sienna Miller and Naomi Watts) on the look of
the day: ‘We are going very natural,’ she reveals. ‘All the weekly shoots until now have been quite stylised, but
Elle specified that this one should be more relaxed. She wants to let the girls’ personalities shine through.’
Finishing touches: The girls get prepared for the shootFor Joy McLaren, a 20-year-old from Leeds, the only thing ‘shining through’ is her nerves. The first to strike a pose today, Joy looks stunning in a Melissa Odabash white cutout swimsuit with gold trim, but photographer Javier Galue deems her poses awkward and stilted.
Luckily, Melissa herself is on hand to offer support all day, and she is sympathetic to Joy’s nerves: ‘I’ve been there – I modelled for over ten years – and these girls will be fine, they just need a bit of encouragement.’
Nerves don’t seem to be a problem for the Lily Cole-like Amelia Thomas, 21, who is self-assured from the start in a red one-piece. But confidence, it turns out, isn’t everything in this game – Melissa is unsure that the theme of today’s shoot is right for Amelia. ‘She is a beautiful English rose and has a very certain look, but it’s more high fashion – I’m not sure it’s right for swimwear.’
Melissa and Javier had announced at the crack of dawn that they were looking for ‘limitless energy’ – and 18-year-old Tiffany Pisani from Malta has exactly that.
At midday she bounds on to the set, jumping about in a bright yellow bikini and straw hat. At last, someone who is clearly delighted to be here!
Meet the finalists: Charlotte (left); Kirsty
Alisha (left); Joy‘They want this to be a happy image, and that’s easy, because I’ve been smiling ever since I made it on to the show,’ she says. ‘I’m just so happy to be here. I mean, yesterday in the airport we were given £500 to spend on an outfit and I bought a Victoria Beckham dress. And I get to keep it! Who wouldn’t be happy about that?’
Next-up, Amba Hudson-Skye is another very happy model – most mortals would baulk at the barely there black one-piece chosen for her by Melissa, but 20-year-old Amba is thrilled.
‘It’s perfect for me. My tummy is not my best feature and I have quite small hips, so it hides my flaws while giving me curves – amazing!’
The girls all seem to have hang-ups about their bodies – Amba with her hips, 21-year-old Kirsty Parsons with her Angelina Jolie-esque lips (‘Elle has been telling me to watch my pout, but even though I try, I can’t seem to help it!’) and Olivia Oldham Stevens, 19, worries about a lack of curves, especially on her derrière. But, on a swimwear photo-shoot beneath an unforgiving Spanish sun, no one is blaming them.
Amelia (left); Tiffany
Olivia (left); Nicola
AmbaArt and design student Nicola Wright, 19, probably has the toughest time of all the girls. She is struggling to pose in a freezing swimming pool while water pours over her from a nearby waterfall – it’s all in the name of fashion, but it’s tough work and Melissa is unforgiving: ‘In this business, no matter how cold and tired you are, you just have to put on a brave face and get over it.’
Of course, the girls don’t get to choose how they will be photographed – Nicola drew the short straw – and neither do they get to choose their own outfits. All eyes are on Alisha White, 18, who is ‘channelling Cheryl Cole’ in the swimsuit that the pop singer was famously photographed in last year. ‘All the others wanted this costume, so I hope it gives me the edge,’ she says.
Alisha may have got the swimsuit everyone wanted, but it’s Charlotte Holmes, 21, who wins the praise that all the girls were after – Melissa says she would happily hire her as the face of her brand, and Javier tells her he’d cast her in a swimwear calendar ‘tomorrow morning’. Alas, in the morning Charlotte will simply be back with the others
in the BNTM House in London, waiting to see whether her star turn by the poolside will impress Elle and the judges
and take her one step closer to the grand prize – a modelling contract with Models 1 agency and the chance to be Britain’s Next Top Model.
Britain’s Next Top Model is on Living on Mondays at 9pm
source: dailymail
