While she may not make a very convincing French man, Jade is an undeniable cutie with a Colgate-verified smile. Throughout this season of ANTM we’ve been taken by her so-chilled-she-could-be-stoned outlook on life and repeated use of the expression “frigging awesome.” This morning we caught up with the 20-year-old Blacktown local, and mutually fanned out over Miranda Kerr.
Were you surprised that there was another double elimination?
No, we all knew! We’d all sit around for hours speculating in our free time, so we kind of knew that there’d be two double eliminations but we thought it would go from five to three, so that was a shock.
You seemed really chilled and laid back throughout the entire show. I think that’s what you became known for, for being so relaxed and having such a lovely personality. Do you ever get stressed or angry?
Aw, thank you. I have really bad stress and anxiety actually so on the show I just tried not to let that show as much. Going on the show did help me a lot, it has completely changed my outlook on life. ANTM really was one of those life-changing moments — corny, I know. I used to get angry and stressed a lot but now I’m much more laid back, just being part of the industry taught me a lot of things.
It would be such a different environment having cameras on you 24/7 that if you went into the competition having a bit of anxiety, everything now probably seems fine.
That’s the thing; I’ve come out of the competition and gone back to university, and the other day I got my first High Distinction. I was like, “Oh my god! How did I do that?” Just my motivation for life, and for all of the opportunities that are about to come my way, everything I’m doing with Colgate… I’m just so excited, bring it on!
Jade for Colgate:
What was the most challenging part of the experience for you?
Definitely being away from my mum. I never really realised that she’s such a rock in my life and keeps me grounded. My mum’s ridiculously amazing so not having her there to say little things like “you’re beautiful” or “you can do it, don’t cry, don’t give up, don’t compare yourself to other people” was hard. You don’t really have that, all you have are the judges who are pushing you to compete. That competitive environment isn’t necessarily healthy and it makes you feel really down sometimes, so yeah, not having my mum was hard.
What judge did you most get on with?
The show kind of makes it look like I didn’t get on with any of the judges, hey? But Jen was always complimenting me off camera, and Didier seemed like he really liked me too. I knew Alex didn’t really like me as much — Abbie was definitely his favourite, he looooved Abbie — but I thought I got along with them all, and then on the show it seems like they hated me so I don’t really know what to say now!
I’m sure that a lot goes on that’s behind-the-scenes… Did you have a least favourite judge?
Watching the show, I feel like Alex and and Charlotte didn’t really give me a fair chance, hey. They just kept saying that I looked mediocre in real life and stuff like that, and it kind of hurts when you hear stuff like that because if I’m performing then what’s the problem? That’s what models do; they don’t have to look like anything in real life so long as they’re doing their job.
So re-watching the show has changed your perception a little?
Yeah, yeah. Definitely.
Who in the house at the most annoying habits?
We all had little annoying things. I know I would get up really early to exercise and that would annoy the girls because they could hear me pitter-patter up the stairs. I don’t know though… Honestly, everyone just had annoying little things.
Was it enjoyable living with all the other girls though?
Oh yeah! It was big ball of fun. Living in a house with 14 other girls, like, come on! We didn’t have pillow fights or anything but we were always hopping in the spa bath and cooking together. It was amazing, it was just like moving out with your friends. It was amazing.
Will you stay in touch with a lot of the girls?
Oh yeah. I love Abbie. I’ve already seen Abbie and Ashley, and I slept over at Taylah’s house the other day. I love all the girls to bits. They’re amazing.
You mentioned your exercising before. You’re really into health and fitness, right?
Yep. I’m a certificate three and four in fitness, which I got in uni holidays before I went onto the show. I’ve always been into it, my whole family’s into it. My brother does bodybuilding and physique, and my mum’s always used exercise as a form of getting her anger out and using it as a medicine kind of thing. I really use it for my anxiety and things like that. I also really love helping other people out. In the house I tried to help the girls, but they’d kind of get annoyed at me sometimes because I’d be like, “Eat your broccoli!” Even now they send me photos of them with broccoli saying that they miss me!
Could you give a tip to anybody who is trying to be healthy or fit but can’t stay motivated?
I would definitely have to say don’t do fad diets, it doesn’t work, it’s all about the lifestyle. Fruit and vegetables are your friends. Avoid bad food — you know what I mean. Don’t do crash diets, change your lifestyle, exercise, go for a walk with your dog.
In the show what was your favourite challenge?
I loved all the challenges, they made me really excited. I loved winning the obstacle course, and the Colgate challenge, obviously. It gave me a huge edge, not just in the competition, but even now, like, I’ve already got a national campaign. It’s just massive exposure, so I’m very grateful and feel lucky for that.
What’s your plan now?
Hopefully I can continue things with Colgate, and hopefully IMG would like to sign me. I’m planning on finishing my university degree; I think education is extremely important. I’d also like to do something in the health and fitness area and connect that with my modeling by being a positive role model for young girls. I’d like to show them that you can do things the healthy way, and that all the horror stories about the industry aren’t true. They do exist, but you don’t have to do things like that. I’d like to combine all my interests together and become a super-person [laughs].
Who is a model that you look up to as a role model?
Miranda Kerr, she’s just the whole package, hey. She has her natural organic facial cleansers and moisturisers and lip balms, they’re not tested on animals, she’s a vegetarian. I just think she’s amazing. Just that holistic view on health she has is such a healthy view on modeling, and I think it’s just great for young Australian girls to look up to her rather than looking up to some of the models you see on Paris runways and things like that. She’s my idol.
What’s your dream modeling job?
This is my dream at the moment — me and Abbie were talking about it — I have this dream of doing Paris, New York, Milan and Sydney fashion week and just traveling the world. But I’d also love to be on the cover of Australian Vogue!
Australia’s Next Top Model airs exclusively on Fox8 at 7:30pm on Tuesdays. Jade was interviewed by Ingrid Kesa.
