Suffolk student at the height of fashion

A SUFFOLK student has told how she beat top models to a magazine photo shoot as part of ITV's Coleen's Real Women programme.

Melton resident Charlotte Richards, a student at the London School of Fashion, appeared on Thursday night's programme where normal women off the street compete against professional agency models to win modelling contracts.

The 20-year-old, who is studying for a degree in theatrical make-up and prosthetics, was approached in October by Coleen McLoughlin, television presenter and girlfriend of footballer Wayne Rooney, and an ITV2 crew while walking in Tower Hamlets, London and asked if she would like to audition for the celebrity's new show.

In the show McLoughlin scours the streets of Britain to find beautiful women who do not necessarily conform to industry standards, she then pitches her real women to high-powered advertising executives and big-brand marketing directors.

Miss Richards said: “I was just walking down Brick Lane when Coleen came up to me and asked me if I wanted to be involved and possibly win a six page photo shoot with New Woman Magazine.”

Approximately 50 women attended the early auditions before the numbers were narrowed down further.

She added: “All of the girls chosen to take part in the programme had to go through various castings and interviews and finally I was chosen to be in the final three.

“We were then followed around by a camera crew and did two photo shoots to produce a modelling portfolio to take with us to the New Woman magazine interview. The photo shoot was quite hard work but good fun.

“At the interview I was up against professional models, which was quite daunting but in the end the magazine picked me.

Miss Richards used to attend Claydon High School where she lived until she moved to Melton a couple of years ago. She then studied art at the Suffolk College before attending the London School of Fashion.