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Australia’s not so bitchy Next Top Model

Sarah Murdoch, both host and associate producer of Australia's Next Top Model says the show this year won't be as bitchy.

Sarah Murdoch, both host and associate producer of Australia’s Next Top Model says the show this year won’t be as bitchy.

‘We have taken a lot of bitchiness out and I think, I hope, that’s what people want,’’ she told AAP.

That will make a refreshing change, if it is eventually realised.

For several seasons now the show has enjoyed trading on catfights and successfully chased headlines that had little to do with modelling and more about backstage brawls.

This included the “bullying” of one contestant with crew on hand, including it in the finished edits, admonishing the culprits on camera later and sending out a press release to talk it up. Wouldn’t it have been healthier not to have included it at all?

Still, all this was before Murdoch was on board, and last year she certainly brought a much-needed sympathetic tone to the show.

She is also frustrated by media reports that one girl this season was told she was too big to walk the runway and says the girl was actually advised that clothing was too small.

‘‘I was so upset when I saw that in the press because I take it really seriously,’’ Murdoch told AAP ahead of the show’s launch party in Sydney today.

‘‘For me, it was the journalist sending dangerous messages because (Ashlea’s weight) was never once mentioned in the show, and I find it really upsetting that it’s the same old argument every time and no one’s taking any notice of the fact that we’re not even talking about that.’’

However, it is not only the contestants who have participated in the bitching, with judges regularly tossing in catty remarks.

One contestant last year was constantly derided in the media, including by judge Charlotte Dawson, for not taking up contract offers after the show. Fingers crossed the judges have lifted their game. This is, after all, a show that includes minors.

None of this should detract from the success the show has enjoyed, with audiences, industry and in delivering Alice Burdeu as a sucessful model attracting international contracts.

The show premieres next Tuesday night at 7:30pm on FOX8.

Source: smh.com.au

3 Responses

  1. If you have a group of attractive, adolescent girls that compete and live together, there’s bound to be bitchiness. It’s human nature, and it’s a little insightful. The show needs a storyline, how boring will it be if they all get along? No dramas?

    I though last year’s ANTM wasn’t up to scratch, it’s clear Sarah Murdoch has taken full control of the format, and even though she’s a model, she doesn’t know how to craft a reality tv show. Even that new theme song is atrocious. Jodi was a bad host, but at least she didn’t destroy the format.

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