Britain's Next Top Model Live Exhibition

The first ever Britain’s Next Top Model Live exhibition took place this weekend at London’s impressive ExCel Centre, so with my press pass at the ready and dressed to perfection, I was ready to embrace the life of a model. And in more ways than one…

The weekend wasn’t spent entirely sipping champagne and browsing the vintage clothing stalls – oh no – I had to earn my keep and take centre stage at the Style Icon Workshop to give daily discussions on this season’s biggest trends. The editor of MyFashionLife.com, Emily O'Brien, took to the mic as the expert guest speaker and gave a confident, funny and insightful look into this season’s camel, leopard print and shearling trends. Day after day Emily brought in a crowd of fashion-hungry girls (and, occasionally, guys) while me and the other interns simply posed on stage in our outfits – oh the hardship.

In my free time I explored the wonders of fashion, beauty and music. The stalls were certainly varied, from Zandra Rhodes footwear, Jonathon Aston tights, Bourjois makeup to even teeth whitening, though I had to pass on the latter as the fear of the dentist suddenly took over me. Free makeovers and hair styling were also on offer for a bit of well-deserved pampering, (something that I definitely took advantage of) all thanks to the London College of Beauty and the world-famous stylist, Adee Phelan- who I must say, looked very trendy in his white sunglasses and tapestry of tattoos.

Musical sensations Eliza Doolittle and Diana Vickers provided the lyrical entertainment, while BNTM judge Charlie Speed left many a young girl in a flutter with his live interview on the main Kiss Open Catwalk stage. Carrying out the interview was the lovely Emma Willis, who I had the pleasure of meeting backstage (she's a lot smaller in real life, but then again most celebrities are!)

However, we all agreed that the highlight of our weekend was witnessing the amazing Chyna Whyne in action (although the Tia Maria cocktail bar came a close second.) Aside from her jaw-droppingly stunning appearance, the singer-turned-stilletto-master gave a hilarious insight into how to walk in the most highest of high heels, leaving us still singing her catchy theme song for most of the day: “When I am walking in my stilettos”… ahem, I digress.

The main event was, naturally, the live catwalk show with the finalists from the latest series of BNTM – the crowd went crazy at the sight of the naturally stunning girls. The show itself was equally impressive, too, with dance routines, fabulous fashion, comedy, music and most importantly....semi-naked male models! Trust me ladies, these guys were sculpted to perfection. However, I have to admit the best part of the show, for me, was listening to singing sensation Jessie J with her belting performance of 'Mamma knows best.' Having never heard of this artist before, I have since listened to her music a hundred times- her voice and stage presence is truly breathtaking. For a little taster of her vocal abilities just take a look below (sorry about the lighting, the stage was overly lit up) or you can watch a Youtube clip of her in action here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jessie+j+mamma+knows+best&aq=o

Our base for the best part of the three-day event was at the Style Icon Workshop, a cute little set up that proved a main focal point for many fashion and beauty bloggers alike, including Pixiwoo with their extremely helpful sisterly makeup tips and Gemma Cartwright, the former editor-in-chief of CatwalkQueen.tv, with her handy wardrobe wearing tips.

My verdict? The weekend was a massive success and one that I was very proud to have been a part of – I just hope this exhibition is a first of many to come, so bring on next year! But before I go I just want to end this post with a snippet from the Joey Bevan fashion show, accompanied by Molly Smitten on vocals. Enjoy!