The nation’s favourite modelling show is back! This time Sophie Ellis-Bextor has signed up as a special guest judge on the brand new series of Britain & Ireland’s Next Top Model.

The singer is joining host and executive producer Elle Macpherson, and will eventually join the full judging panel alongside former model and actress Janice Dickinson, designer Henry Holland, male model and actor Tyson Beckford and pop star Ronan Keating.

Elle has commented that Sophie is a top choice due to the fact she is both successful but also ‘unusual’ with regards to her image. When speaking at the show’s launch Elle commented: “We had Sophie Ellis-Bextor and she was really interesting, because she is successful and unusual. She is not a stereotypical beauty. She gave great feedback.”

Elle has also stated that another addition she would like to see to the panel is the British supermodel and actress, Lily Cole. Lily is also renowned for having an unusual look but is enormously successful within the modelling industry.

This is the seventh series of the show which is looking to discover a perfect girl to take the Top Model crown although this year is bringing a few alterations. The most notable change is the judges leaving the studio for road shows in six different cities in an attempt to find the new modelling face of Britain.

It has been reported that this year’s modelling show is a little more ‘x factor’ as a result of the increased focus on the models’ personalities – not just their looks. Following the initial auditions, a mass cut and Boot camp will take place whittling down the 90 girls to just 12 finalists.

Most recently in the news, Elle has rather unusually banned any girls from auditioning in bikinis for a place in the competition. She has said that asking the potential models to strut around in bikinis would be ‘inappropriate’.

“We started off putting the girls in bathing suits, but when I saw the first lot come in I just thought, ‘I can’t do this to them. It’s not fair’,” she said. Elle also felt that seeing all the contestants in very similar bikinis prevented their individual characters from shining through.

The show airs from Monday 4th July on Sky Living.

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