As famous thinker Dr. Suess once said, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” And that’s exactly what eliminated ANTM contestant Madeline was doing when we met up with her this morning after her hopes of becoming a J-Hawk mini me were torn cruelly from her hands on last night’s episode.
What was the toughest part of the whole ANTM experience? A lot of the girls have said that not being able to have constant contact with their families was really difficult…It was pretty much that – going from seeing my family and my friends so much, and then going to pretty much nothing, that was ridiculously hard. You don’t have any freedom, either. I’ve lived out of home since I left school, since I was 17, so three years now, and it was hard not just being able to go for a walk up the street.
Did you forge any close friendships in the model house? Yeah, definitely. We all really got along really well together in the house. I was really close to Jade and Duckie, and then at the end of the show I got really close to Shannon, and we’ve been really close outside of the house as well. I keep in contact with them all, it’s really nice.
Who do you think will win? From the start I thought that Taylah would get really far, but then ‘that’ happened and she had to leave, so that was really sad. Jade – it would be amazing to see her win. She would just make the most out of the opportunity and put her all into it.
Who was your favourite judge? I really loved Charlotte. She was always there to give advice if you wanted to talk to her. She was just really supportive. It’s funny, because before the show I always thought she was really mean and I was so scared of her, but when you go on the show you get to know her and she’s a lovely person.
What about a least favourite judge? It’s not that I didn’t like any of the judges, but it was definitely harder to connect with Jen. She wasn’t as present as the other judges, who were more like mentors, where as she was more of a presenter. I’m not saying she never gave us advice, just not as much as the other judges. I wouldn’t feel comfortable going up to Jen and telling her I was struggling with something.
Were you starstruck when you first saw her in real life? Yeah! She’s gone so far with her modeling career, like, she has her own clothing line and everything, and represents Myer. She’s still so young, she’s an amazing icon. It was crazy meeting her, it was really cool.
What was your favourite challenge? The Colgate casting challenge. It was really good to experience something that will happen now after the show in real life.
Are you planning to continue with your law studies, or start working professionally right away? I’m half way through my degree so I’m definitely going to finish, but right now modeling is on the top of the list. It’s what I want to do, and now is the best time to do it. I was just on TV, so I have that exposure and hopefully it will help my career… I’m not actually allowed to do any work until after show finishes, but I’m definitely going to try to get into it [go to agencies] now.
If you could go back in time and do the whole thing again, is there anything that you’d change? [Laughs]. Yes! I’d be so much more confident! Argh! I just think about… In last night’s episode I was talking to the camera and telling myself to be confident, but my body just wouldn’t do it, and I don’t know why. I just couldn’t do it! I would tell myself over and over again to be confident, but I just couldn’t do it. It just left me; it was bad!
Given your upbringing growing up in a fairly rural place and then being thrust in front of all these cameras, that probably had something to do with it. I’d definitely say so. I’ve never been the quietest person, but I’ve never been the loudest either. I guess my upbringing had a lot to do with it, but I love where I was brought up – I wouldn’t change anything about me, but I would try to be more confident.
Who is you dream person to work with? I’ve always been obsessed with Burberry, with their trench coats and everything, I’ve loved them for so long so that would be pretty amazing working with them. It would be pretty amazing if Alex Perry wanted to work with me as well, because I actually know him. Working with a well-known model would be amazing because they’re kind of like celebrities to me so that would be so cool. It’s weird – I know it’s not a big brand – but I’ve always wanted to do something for Just Jeans, I just really love them!
Well, it is a household name. The Australian girl in the campaign now is a Victoria’s Secret Angel too, and she’s just so beautiful. I can’t pronounce her name… Shanina Shaik. I love Jess Hart too. Her and Jess have just gone so far, and are both in Victoria’s Secret runway shows — I’m just like, “Oh my god, that’s amazing!” I watch them every year.
Yeah, that would be a pretty fun show to do. I always love their celebrity guests like Justin Bieber. Yeah! They always have the best music acts. That would be pretty amazing, being in one of their shows!
Australia’s Next Top Model airs exclusively on Fox8 at 7:30pm on Tuesdays.
