TV judge Charley Speed sets a model example

Britain's Next Top Model fans will know Charley Speed as the charming judge who works with Elle Macpherson, Julien McDonald and Grace Woodward on Sky Living's hit show. But he is no stranger to the industry. Here he explains how his career began at just 16-years-old...

How did you originally get into modelling?
I was at art and design college. Frankly, I could have been doing more work there. A good friend of mine at the time told me I should think about becoming a model. I didn't think anything of it but she sent my picture into a competition backed my Models 1. I turned up to the competition audition and won it and that's how it started.

You were only 16-years-old. Were your family supportive?
My father was a director for commercials and TV features. My mother was an artist. So it was a an interesting upbringing. But they were very supportive. I wasn't achieving a huge amount academically at the time.

By the time you you were 18 you were the face of Calvin Klein with Kate Moss...
Yes, I was really jammy. How it works usually is that the right person will see you or you will get put on the right campaign. So to get put on a campaign like that was mad. It kicked off big time but I was oblivious to it.

I was very fortunate to be privately educated but that is where all the money went. I wasn't very fashion conscious and I knew nothing about the industry at all.

Was Kate Moss a good person to work with?
I flew to New York for the Calvin Klein shoot and I was in the fitting room waiting for her to arrive. Eventually this girl walked in who was quite short for a model. She was a bit sniffly so I asked her if she had a cold. That was our introductory conversation. She was very grounded and normal.

Did the success go to your head?
Yeah it did. I think when you're that age and you're put on a pedestal it is inevitable. I had success very quickly so I had a warped view of it. When you're being told you're amazing all the time you start to believe you're own hype. It's no good but you do learn a lot from it.

Is the fashion world quite rock n'roll?
It can be. You make of it what you want. There are lots of parties to go to but you can also keep yourself to yourself. I suspect it would have helped me if I had networked a bit more but I wasn't really into that. I worked with some amazing people but the industry didn't mean that much to me.

Do you think male models are under slightly less pressure than female ones?
The are so many preconceptions about modeling. At the top of my game I was incredibly skinny and I couldn't put weight on. The genuine truth is that a lot of models are genuinely skinny and have that shape. So much of the industry is directed to women that perhaps there is more pressure on women in that respect. Perhaps a certain type of figure is expected of women.

Is it easy for a model's career to be very short-lived?
Definitely. A good agency will set you up for the fact that your career could end quickly. I crashed pretty hard actually. I was everywhere for a few years and then it was over. It is tough. You get used to being treated in a certain way but you have to pick yourself up and learn from it.

How did your involvement in Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model come about?
The producers came to Models 1 looking for a judge. I have been with Models 1 since the beginning. They wanted a guy with lots of modelling experience. I got through the interview process and was originally considered for the panel on the series with Huggy Ragnarsson.

They then changed the panel to Elle Macpherson and Julien Macdonald and that's when they called me asking if I could get involved.

You have a big impact on the lives of young, aspiring models. Is it tough to tell some of them they won't make it in the industry?
Yes it's always an incredibly difficult thing to say. Some of them have been told by friends and family that they should become models but it is better to tell them if they don't have what it takes. You don't always see it in the show but we always ask if they have finished their education, what stage they are at in their lives and so on. You can tell when a person is cut out for it physically and mentally. I honestly do think we are doing good.

Do you get on with the other judges on the show?
Yes but all the arguments you see on TV are real because we are all so different. But Julien Macdonald is a lot nicer in real life. He is a very generous, nice guy.

Do you have any other exciting plans in the pipeline?
I am a bit of an MTA- model turned actor. I will always be a bit of a frustrated actor. I have had some small parts in big films. I am really into technology and engineering so I would love to do a TV show about that. In my personal life, I am settled and happy at the moment.

*Charley Speed's interview took place at The Lion and Unicorn theatre on The London Chat Show. For more information visit www.londonchatshow.com