Broome’s Next Top Model

The newest series of Broome’s Next Top Model features a reluctant American girl persuaded by her South African friend, Skye, to partake in a photoshoot for the resort he works at.

Yeah, you guessed it. Skye was asked by his manager if him and “that American girl” could come in for a photoshoot for their resort’s website. At first when he asked, I said no, but then he mentioned that we would be given free drinks and a $100 voucher to Sunset Bar & Grill – one of the best places to eat in Broome and if you know me, you know I’ll never turn down free food.

I thought it would just be Skye, his manager, and me smiling in font of her 2005 Nikon for a few shots and then we’d get our vouchers and walk away with a stomach full of good food, wine, and we would never have to speak of it again. Well, you know nothing is normal when it goes to the “WS Generator” (my new nickname – refer to previous blog for explanation). Skye called me about an hour before I planned to head for town for the shoot and said, “Uh Andrea, I think this might be a little bit of a bigger deal than I had anticipated. A bus full of models and a media crew just unloaded at the front lobby.. I think these photos will be in the newspaper, website, and they might even be shooting a commercial.”

That $100 F&B voucher didn’t seem worth it anymore.. I was ready to back out, but Skye gave me a pep-talk and said, “Andrea, do it for the blog.” So here I was, starring in the one episode season of “Broome’s Next Top Model.”

I was told to dress in business professional attire – umm excuse me, but I am in Broome and I only have my Op Shop clothes for work, 2 playsuits (rompers), and bathing suits, and you expect me to dress business professional? I was already at a disadvantage since I had to show up to the resort in my “fanciest” playsuit I have in Broome that is short, white, and not business professional whatsoever. I zipped up my little playsuit and held my breath as I walked into the resort to see if I would be the only contestant ever on Broome’s Next Top Model to be kicked out of their own show.

We head to the “green room” where we were greeted by 3 stick thin blonde women who were part of the agency shooting for the resort. There was a rack of clothes that I thought were made for 9 year old children (I found out later they were for the models), a table of accessories including sunnies, hats, belts, goggles, and anything else you could think of, and then a big table of makeup, hair, and even a portable spray tanner thing (I really am not knowledgable about makeup so I don’t know what they call it).

Since I’ve been in Broome, I have worn minimal makeup when I go out, and I never straighten my hair so I was really excited to finally look like a real human being again. I was the first in the chair – obviously she could tell I would take the most time probably because of all of my mosquito bites that might need to be covered up and my unbelievably thick hair. I sat down in the chair and the makeup artist goes, “So, what do you do?” and I said with a big grin, “Oh I am a zookeeper at the crocodile park.” and despite having absolutely nothing in common with these women, we talked the whole time about some of my crazy experiences out there and she even straightened my whole head of hair! It was great despite a few snarky comments about how hair grows more in the humidity, hinting at the fact that my split ends are out of control and I really need a haircut.

I was ready to go and Skye was up next in the chair and he had to get his face spray painted with the fake tanning thing – he doesn’t have that zookeeper’s tan so he needed some color. Then after he was finished in the chair, another male and female showed up in their appropriate, business professional attire. Just imagine Skye, and the two others, professional from head to toe in their slacks, dress shoes, and button down shirts (yes, the girl was in the same outfit as well), and then there was me. In my white playsuit, wedges, and mosquito bitten legs – I obviously fit in perfectly!

The photoshoot commenced, and we headed out to the front deck, followed by a camera man, makeup artist to do touchups, and the stick thin blonde “agency women” who somehow changed into their beautiful dresses in 2 minutes and looked like they were ready to step out on the runway. Luckily, we didn’t have to pose individually and we were just told to mingle, drink champagne, and look pretty. Thank god for my job at the crocodile park because all of these models have probably never been within 2 feet of any wildlife, so they were amazed at my stories and it made the photoshoot a breeze!

Halfway through the shoot, one of the agency women that was behind the camera took me aside and told me that they wanted me to change.. Somehow I had to squeeze into the model clothes – I had these burnt orange, flowy pants, with a singlet and despite not being able to breathe correctly, I felt like I looked a bit more appropriate next to the others. I made my entrance back into the photoshoot, champagne glass full, and talked about crocodiles, my lack of knowledge about champagne, and being American for the remainder of the shoot – it was a piece of cake.

Do you like how I did my nails for the shoot?

So, as the one episode season of Broome’s Next Top Model comes to an end, my final thoughts regarding my experience are that I am glad Skye convinced me to “do it for the blog” and for the food voucher; why not put yourself into weird/awkward/kind of fun  experiences when the opportunity is there? When the photos come out, I will be sure to upload them! Hopefully they aren’t as awkward as I expect them to be!

And now, for updates regarding my life behind the camera, I was lucky enough to be asked by one of my riding student’s friends to housesit her unbelievable house in Coconut Wells. Coconut Wells is a remote “suburb” as you will, about 25 minutes outside of the town of Broome. Each household is completely self-sufficient, isolated, and screwed if you have any attackers, so of course I said yes to housesitting.

The owner of the house went to Perth to be with her family for 10 days and left me with her open-plan house that had the most amazing view of the beach, lagoon, and sunsets, an infinity pool, a quad bike, an Australian Shepard/Border Collie, a cat, and a pony that I was allowed to ride on the beach whenever I wanted – I’m sorry, how did I get so lucky?

Every evening I’d watch the sunset with friends and/or with the pets, then fall asleep under the brightest stars to then wake up looking out over one of the pretties beaches on the west coast – you could say it was an average 10 days.

Despite the commute, minor issues with generators, bugs, frogs, spiders, and air con, it was a dream come true! Oh, and I managed to get TWO flat tires within 5 days.. I learned to not run over the sharp rock sticking up out of the ground and once you change the tire, always check and make sure the spare doesn’t have a hole in it 🙂

That’s all from your Season 1 Winner of Broome’s Next Top Model!