Posted on: 04/22/2013

Paris catwalks beckon model


A Christchurch model who was runner-up in New Zealand"s Next Top Model will soon be hitting the Parisian catwalks. Michaela Steenkamp,19,who has lived in Christchurch for most of her life. Steenkamp,who made her modelling debut on Top Model in 2010,recently moved to Sydney with her family. "It is amazing to be able to model in Paris,coming from such a small place. My friend signed me up for Top Model as a joke. I was like,"that"s not very funny". "I never thought I would have gotten that far on the show,and getting all support from people and family about how proud they were of me was amazing". After the show,Steenkamp signed with Mel Radford-Brown,of Portfolio Models.Now her dad hits the gym with her and encourages her to exercise her least favourite part of the job. "It"s the sweating and exercise that I don"t like",But it"s part of the job. Like any job,you have to work hard at it." Exercise is tough but keeping to a strict diet is less of a problem. Junk food is not a big issue for me. I enjoy eating healthy and my fish and chicken and my salads. it"s 100 percent fat-free and sugar-free,but it"s not unhealthy either".I love catwalk. When I"m up there it comes out. It"s just me and the catwalk and I don"t feel anything else.