AN aspiring singer, dancer and actress is seeking success on the catwalk after entering a modelling competition run by an East Anglian agency.

Elliot Furniss

AN aspiring singer, dancer and actress is seeking success on the catwalk after entering a modelling competition run by an East Anglian agency.

Sophie Chittock, 19, is hoping her curvaceous looks can secure enough votes to make it through to the final of the Model of the Year 2009 contest, run by the Kerri Parker Academy.

Sophie, from Occold, near Eye, is currently studying musical theatre at the University of Essex in Colchester, where she is living with two pals.

She said she dreamed of being a West End star and only decided to enter the contest as a bit of fun, but was now really hoping to make the grand final.

Sophie already has more than 200 votes and said her family, including mum Monica and dad Kevin, both 60, sister Katie, 27, brother Adam, 25, and boyfriend Marc, 21, had given her their full support.

She said: “I went to a model tutorial day (run by the academy) and got a set of photos done then I looked on the website and joined the academy and got picked to be in the 50 to get votes.

“I just entered to try out a different aspect - it's just a bit of fun but it all depends on how far I get. My mum has been voting like mad and I have got a very supportive boyfriend.”

Sophie, a former Hartismere High School pupil, said she wasn't a “typical” model and hoped her curvy figure would impress the public and judges.

She added: “I would like to push that forward. In the media they are all stick-thin and I want models to be curvaceous to show that you don't have to be tiny to be a model.”

If she makes it through to the final of the contest, Sophie, a big fan of TV shows such as America's Next Top Model, will take on 29 other successful girls in a bid to be crowned model of the year and win thousands of pounds worth of prizes and contracts.

For details of how to vote for Sophie, visit www.thekerriparkeracademy.com and look for the “public voting contest” section of the Model of the Year area. The grand final will be held in Norwich in November.