I was living and working in Hong Kong when my Australian agency sent me an email marked URGENT!!
Inside was a message that had me jumping for joy, and then jumping to pack my bags.
Joining the Show
A blessing in disguise, my contract had come to an abrupt end in Hong Kong, My agent back home excitedly messaged me to tell me that Project Runway Australia had requested me to be one of their models for the show. It had only had two seasons in the US, and was premiering in the land down under. When I went in for the fittings, it was my first introduction to reality TV. My designer - Sophie Spalding, was a sweet and peppy woman who had a clear sense of what she wanted to design. I would stand for hours while she pinned and tucked material around me. The camera's whizzed around all of us in a flurry, and the stakes were made high by the last half hour. To be honest it was all a pretty relaxed experience, the drama was added in with long pauses and the hosts yelling whatever the producers prompted them to.
Real Life Drama
We were told minimal information by our agency, other than this was simply "another modelling gig". When we all stood up on the runway with our designers by our side, all of us were taken by surprise when the host Kristy, told us that we were also in a competition to win prizes.
Cue all of the models rushing to call their agents to make sure we were actually getting paid to be on set. (spoiler, we were)
The crew and designers were all so lovely to us, making our experience as comfortable and fun as possible. However there was one hiccup when one of the models took her shoes off and walked the runway without them on. We had all assumed that they would do a retake (like they had so many times with the rest of us), however the producers loved it, and turned a seemingly normal catwalk mishap into a temper tantrum moment for the TV audience.
Friends Forever
While people always seem to think models aren't friendly to each other, they really are! We would all hang out in our green room, sharing food, playing music and reading books. I made one of my closest friends - Yumi, on that set.
Benefits from The Show
I became an ambassador for L'oreal and Tresseme, the two companies that sponsored the show. I would go into set when they weren't filming the contestants, and film and shoot commercials for the products. It was exciting to see what life was like on set, and I think it's where my interest in acting was first sparked.