RINGWOOD School pupil Helena Manning has reached the finals of the Top Model UK competition due to take place in the Hilton Metropole in London in March.
The 15-year-old, who lives in West Moors, was one of 4,000 hopefuls who entered.
She said: “I’m quite shocked really because it’s the biggest competition I’ve done.”
She did not think should stood a chance against the “pretty” girls that she was up against during an interview in London in November.
“There were five of us that were kept behind and we were all told that we were ‘the next big thing’,” she said.
“It was really nerve-wracking, but brilliant. At school they are really proud of me, actually. They are thinking of putting me in the school magazine.
“They are really supportive.”
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