The end of Britain's Missing Top Model

Posted by Lara Masters at 11:35 on 6 Aug 2008

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Britain's Missing Top Model came to an emotional close last night with a glance back over the journey that the eight hopeful disabled models have been on, and a glimpse of the winner's future.

When I was asked to be a judge on the show I was wary. I have worked as a disabled model myself (with an agency solely for disabled models) and none of us have ever had very much interest or work. And then I produced a sexy calendar of disabled models, including myself, which got a lot of press attention, but in the typically patronising way that the media deals with disability; 'Ah! Aren't these girls brave and special?! Who knew such thing as a beautiful cripple could even exist?!' Do I sound bitter?  I am. There I go shamelessly and unapologetically promoting another disabled stereotype.

Speaking to the BMTM production team initially, I felt the only way that a quest to discover a disabled model and expect her to work could succeed was to give the programme so much weight and publicity that the girls, and particularly the winner, would be noticed for being 'off the telly.'  This would ensure to some extent that their disability was not the main focus, as the personality of the potential model would minimise the impact of her physical difference. Then, when our winning girl was cut adrift and sent out into the big bad world of fashion and media, there would be substantially less of the recoiling and repulsion that  has often been the usual reaction to the idea of disability having a place in the beauty industry.

If there is one thing that I have learnt about being disabled - and I'm severely disabled, the degenerative nerve condition I have is now at the extent where I only have partial use of one arm and hand - it's that character trumps disability. By this I mean that society, (that's us), has an instantly negative reaction to something that is by common standards 'deformed.' I don’t know the psychology behind it, whether it's a primitive fear of 'other,' an archaic engendering of 'survival of the fittest,' or simply a projection of our own intolerances of our own imperfections. What I do know is that all it takes to dissipate any fear or negative responses from other people is personality. Showing who you are rather than what you are quickly dismantles prejudice and allows people to look past any 'abnormality.'

Knowing this, from the beginning of the competition, I was focused on finding a girl who really shone at a soul level. It was not the girls' beauty or particular disability that caught my attention. I was observing how they integrated and transcended their disability, how their character allowed them to make their physical challenge a spectacular, mesmerising and inseparable addition to their personality.

It was a tough call because the first thing we all noticed when meeting the eight competing models was that they were exceptional characters. Self-aware, poised, surprisingly graceful and gracious individuals. We were often eliminating on nuances; a minor character flaw, fluctuating stamina, a momentary lapse in confidence. All the judges found it difficult letting go of the girls because we had been so charmed by them.

When it came down to the last two, Sophie Morgan, who uses a wheelchair and Kelly Knox, who has one arm, they were separated by a hair's breadth. Wayne Hemingway and I wanted Sophie to win because we knew she would go out there and face any situation head-on, dauntlessly scything through barriers of negative perceptions of disability.  The other three judges chose Kelly Knox because they felt she could be moulded. Quite obviously it is going to be a lot easier to sell a model with one arm than a model in a wheelchair for purely practical reasons so at this early stage in the game, I believe they made the right choice.

Last night we saw Kelly's stunning Rankin shoot and I am sure everyone who watched agrees she has what it takes. Now it's up to the fashionistas to prise open their narrow minds, let go of restrictive and outmoded notions of what is considered beautiful and embrace something beautifully different.  

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