HER idols are Gemma Ward and Lara Stone and, if her success on Australia’s Next Top Model [ANTM] is anything to go by, Hazel O’Connell may well follow in their supermodel footsteps.
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While she can’t disclose exactly what happens in the Fox8 show, the Year 11 Scots School student [pictured] has already proven her potential by making it to the final top 20 girls in the competition.
Back in Bathurst after a whirlwind stint in the ANTM house, a photo shoot in Paris and a stint on the catwalk for Australian designer Alex Perry, Hazel yesterday described the experience as better than she could have imagined.
“It was really different to what I expected, but so much better than I ever thought it could be,” she said.
Hazel said she has always been interested in modelling – and her height, 1.78m (5ft 10’’), certainly fills the criteria.
“A few people suggested I enter ANTM and I thought I’ve got nothing to lose,” she said.
“We went down to Sydney, the auditions were at Paramatta shopping centre, and the line-up of girls was huge. They were all dressed up; it was pretty intimidating,” she said.
Luckily she wasn’t put off, because by the time she got to the judges it was evident she had the “it” factor.
“I got up to the judges and they said I was going straight through to top 100,” she said, adding other contestants were made to go through a second audition.
Having made the top 100, Hazel attended model boot camp, which included photo shoots.
After the first show, the top 100 was whittled down to the top 20, which included Hazel.
From there the models went to Paris for a photo shoot on the Eiffel Tower.
“It was incredible. They closed down the Eiffel Tower and we had it to ourselves; it was an amazing photo shoot,” Hazel said.
Hazel is now back at school, and her lips are tightly sealed about the show’s result. It means Bathurst has to wait until the finale, filmed live in September, to see if Hazel takes out the honour of Australia’s top model.
In the meantime, she plans to finish school and, hopefully, model in the school holidays.
She said after Year 12 she’d love to model full-time and work overseas. Her ultimate dream is to be part of fashion weeks all over the world and land a top campaign.
“Calvin Klein would be great,” she laughed.
