Kelly Knox was born without a left forearm has won a TV show modelling contest whose contestants had disabilities ranging from profound deafness to brain injury.
According to reports from the UK:
Her prize is a contract with a top
agency, Take 2 Model Management, and a fashion shoot for Marie Claire
magazine.Miss Knox,
23, who vowed at seven never to wear a prosthetic arm, claimed she
never classified herself as disabled, until she decided to enter
Britain’s Missing Top Model.And she doesn’t intend her differences to influence her career in the fashion industry.
She said: ‘In my household we don’t use the word disabled. Never have done, never will do.‘I don’t feel disabled but society will label me as being disabled.’
‘I’ve had so many messages from people who have been born like this and parents of children who say I am such an inspiration.
‘That makes me think, “That’s why I did the competition.”‘
“At school I was never bullied – which I think makes me very lucky as I know a lot of people would have been bullied. Some people born this way have a tough time. ‘I know it sounds really strange but the only time I get
the hump is when I get a piece of tough meat on my plate and I can’t
get into it”Her current job, as a credit controller for a soft furnishings company, is worlds away from modelling.
Marie O’Riordan, editor of Marie Claire and one of the judges, said: ‘To get disability
discussed on the sofas throughout the land is no mean feat and using a
popular format of a reality show was a clever way of seducing viewers
into a more complex world.‘We hope this does pave the way for girls with disabilities to get into modelling in the future.’
Oh yes, totally. I can just see a wheelchair on the cover of the next Vogue and a teenager with Down Syndrome on Harpers Bazaar. Oh wait, no I can’t because modelling is about perfection and air-brushing. Even Miranda Kerr gets whacked with the air brush.
I hope the contestants enjoyed the experience but the chance of any future career in modelling is zero so CAN WE STOP holding it up as a realistic proposition for these girls or the other 99.9% of the population.
Top Comments
You only have to look at the pictures of Kelly to see that she has as much in terms of beauty as most models, plus the personality to go with it. This story has been discussed across the world and the general feeling is ABOUT TIME. BBC News here even took a copy of Marie Claire on the street to gauge public perception - which was "why can't she be a model - she's beautiful" You may not have seen the episodes but the series wasn't a reality show to send people up, the girls had to have a chance of getting into modelling in the first place and I'm glad to say that looking at the pictures shot by Rankin, Kelly is a worthy winner. Sadly it is negative attitudes that mean that Kelly and young girls who are model material, but who happen to have a disability will never be given the chance
Kaye
Good on her. She is extremely gorgeous and it is such a shame that someone so naturally good looking wont be given a chance to become a model because of a birth defect when our "professional" models are anorexic coke heads who stuff around and take what they have for granted.