On Monday night, the Models Direct team tuned in to see the stunning freckled faced Jade become the winner of Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model 2011.

Jade recently spoke to Sky Living, saying that it “feels amazing” to be the winner, but that she wasn’t always confident that she’d make it to the end: “I kept thinking I wasn’t going to go all the way. I felt ill and had a bad throat in Miami and then in the final stages no-one got bad photos so I knew I had to step up my game. You just don’t know what is going to happen, I didn’t have a clue,” she said.

Continuing, she told Sky Living what her favourite moment of the series was the underwater photoshoot. “It scared me because I don’t like being in deep water. But I knew nothing could stop me after doing that.”

For the final, Jade was up against this year’s favourite – 20 year old Lithuanian Juste, who has been modelling since she was 16 and even won Miss Lithuania 2007 and Miss Fashion TV. So how did Jade feel going up again a girl with such great modelling experience already under her belt? “I felt ‘Oh my God, I’m in the final!’ I’d never modelled before and when I first joined the competition I just thought no way will I win, so I’m just going to go for the experience. It was a whirlwind. Being up against Juste I thought I had no chance. She has done a lot of modelling before and she had the edge because she was always a bit of a favourite. She is like a model already, she walks really well and because it was a catwalk show for the final so I was very stressed.”

Despite feeling stressed and nervous, Jade held it together and impressed the judges walking for the Mark Fast catwalk show. Elle, Julien and Grace even said that the two finalists performed better than the professional models on the night – high praise indeed given the fact that the catwalk involved stairs and dog models!

So how did the young model feel when her name was called out? “I said, ‘are you serious?’ I was in total shock, because I was waiting for her to say Juste’s name. My mum was screaming with joy. She doesn’t recognise me in the editorial shots. I cried my eyes out!

“[Elle] told me she swayed towards Juste but after watching me on the catwalk she realised how far I’d come and how much I deserved it. She told me to start believing in myself. I thanked her for changing my life and she told me that my life has changed dramatically.”

So what has Jade’s life been like since winning the modelling competition? “I did the Revlon campaign and shoots for Company and Miss Selfridge. It’s great to be so busy.” Jade has also visited her modelling agency, who told her how pleased they are that she won given that her look is so unique. Indeed Jade has a fantastically unique look that we at Models Direct love; not only does she have gorgeously freckled skin, but fiery red hair and a body that is very curvaceous for someone with a slender frame. And to top it off, Jade is happy with her body: “It’s important for me to have a healthy body,” the model said. “My boobs came from nowhere and Julien loves them. I’m a 34D and, although a lot of models have very little, Lara Stone has boobs so it’s an okay thing now.” Having great body confidence has to be one of the most important traits of a good model – and we’re sure that this, along with her unique look and improved modelling skills, will take Jade far in the modelling industry. So good luck Jade, we’ll be looking out for you!