Who’s been watching this year’s ‘Britain’s Next Top Model’? When judge Nicky Johnston tore a strip off the girls in the bottom three during elimination on last week’s episode I was in stitches.  I’m sure several-thousand viewers must have thought Nicky was like the Wicked Witch of the West, and judging by the looks on the faces of two of his fellow judges, models Paul Sculfor’s and Abbey Clancy’s faces, so did they! It was only fashion legend Hilary Alexander who appeared to show any empathy with Nicky. But then again, Hilary and Nicky are coming from the angle of clients, not models. But Nicky was quite right. The dozen girls who are fortunate enough to have made it to the final twelve have, by and large, spent the last few weeks arguing amongst themselves, having meltdowns over their new hairdos (call me a vile queen but I always relish the makeover episode!), complaining about their clothes, or turning out photos week-after-week with the same I-don’t-want-to-be-here expressions. I have worked with and known Hilary for twenty-five years and Nicky for not much less, and between them they have over seven decades experience. Why the hell those girls choose not to take their advice is beyond me, because they will NEVER have that luxury in the ‘real’ world! God, I’ve been on shoots where models have been told to leave for yawning so these girls have got it easy!!! Being a model isn’t just about being beautiful; in fact beauty is only one element that is required to be a great model. Modelling means knowing what angles your face looks best from; it is about being conscious of any flaws and developing techniques in your poses to disguise them; it’s about behaving with grace no matter what, and above all, modelling is about being able to take direction…unless you’re Kate Moss or Lind Evangelista, of course. But even Kate and Linda started somewhere! Kate did her apprenticeship on magazines like ‘Just 17’ for a few years before she made it, and Linda was knocking around for the best part of a decade until a short haircut catapulted her to ‘I won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day’ fierceness. Okay, while there definitely isn’t a future Kate or Linda amongst this year’s batch of Top Model wannabes, there is absolutely no reason why a few of them can’t have careers as regular jobbing models, but only if they LISTEN to the advice they’re being given. Woe betides the girl who doesn’t give her all on next week’s episode!