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By Tamara Abraham
Supportive: An emotional Elle Macpherson hugs Charlotte as she is eliminated from Britain's Next Top ModelThe supermodel became emotional as announced that the girl she had championed for 12 weeks would be leaving the show... But in an exclusive interview, Charlotte Holmes admits that she knew her time was up.
With her bubbly personality, girl-next-door looks and the unwavering support of Elle Macpherson, Charlotte Holmes was the odds-on favourite to win Britain's Next Top Model.
But even more surprising than her shock elimination was the emotional response of the usually composed Elle Macpherson, who has championed the 21-year-old since day one.
She explained in an interview later that it was because she had identified with Charlotte so much.
'Unexpectedly - even for me - I became very emotional when I announced that Charlotte would be leaving,' she told Living TV.
'I realised afterwards that it was because a lot of comments made about Charlotte - too commercial, too smiley, not fashion enough, too curvy - were the types of comments I heard early on in my career.
'When she didn’t make it through to the final three, it felt like a part of me was rejected.
'The upside is - look where I am today! I am sure Charlotte will succeed in any medium she chooses.'
Charlotte, who was nicknamed 'mini-Elle' early in the series, says the appreciation was mutual: 'She said throughout the competition that she could see a lot of herself in me.
'For her to be supporting me, that is really encouraging.'
Despite this, she admits she knew her time on the show was up, even though she had done well on that week's challenges.
'I had felt like I'd had a good week,' she told us. 'I felt like I really worked on the shoot, I was actually feeling quite confident - but when they called Joy's name second, I kind of knew...'
Praise: Charlotte (left) felt that she'd done well in that week's shoot, set in a Malaysian jungle - but she admitted that rival Tiffany (right) really deserved to be in the final because she worked so hardShe is not the slightest bit resentful of the three finalists though: 'I didn't have any expectations - everyone was so different. I could only do my best.'
Charlotte accurately pinpointed the strengths and weaknesses of each of the remaining girls, saving her highest praise for Maltese blonde, Tiffany.
'They're all fantastic and all deserve to be there. Tiffany has been working so hard - she's embraced her new look, which was really difficult for her. She's the best all-rounder.
'Joy doesn't enjoy catwalk - if you don't enjoy something you're not going to try at it. Alisha's great at the edgy thing, but she's not so good commercially.'
Charlotte admitted that living with her rivals was not easy though: 'I tried to get along with everyone - we didn't get along all the time. Alisha was a little confrontational.
'It's a weird situation, because you're living with these people too - the competition gets so fierce.'
Nor was it a straightforward relationship with the judges, especially Julien Macdonald, who, several episodes back, told her that she was too curvy to be a catwalk model.
Hot competition: Alisha (left) and Joy (right) will battle it out next week for a place in the life final'It didn't come across well, but it didn't hurt at the time,' she said. 'I don't want to be an average catwalk model. I am what I am. But you're spending days and weeks without being with your family, so it's a hard situation to be in.'
She added that the fashion designer was hard to please: 'I found him difficult - he wasn't impressed ever.'
She had plenty of good things to say about straight-talking stylist Grace Woodward, and male model Charley Speed though.
'I love Grace. She's a fantastic stylist and added a really good dimension to the judging panel. And Charley's so laid back, he was like a big brother. It was good to have him there. He was a fan of mine - Julien definitely wasn't .'
Charlotte remains modest about the future, and unlike many of the girls who were eliminated before her, she does not appear to be pinning her hopes on modelling.
'I'm going to see what comes,' she said. 'I've got to pay the bills.'
But with many of the show's guest mentors spotting her star quality, and Elle anticipating her great success, we reckon Britain's Next Top Model is just the beginning...
Britain's Next Top Model is on Living TV every Monday at 9pm
source :dailymail
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