australian next top modelWait is this AU or US Top Model?
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/08/12/18/33/top-model-contestant-chokes-rival
Australia's Next Top Model contestant chokes rival
ninemsn staff
6:33pm August 12, 2013
August 09, 2013: A teenage girl choked when reality television goes horribly wrong. It's the ugly incident that's rocked Australia's modelling industry. Now, one young model's future hangs in the balance.
A "misunderstanding" on the reality television series Australia's Next Top Model has resulted in one of the contestants being choked by a fellow teenage model.
Taylah Roberts, 18, turned on rival contestant Ashley Pogmore, 18, while they were filming an episode of the show at Broken Hill in NSW.
The upcoming episode shows Pogmore throwing paint at the other models after participating in an art class.
But Roberts snaps when she realises there's paint on her shirt.
"We were laughing and then it got to that point where I don't think she really realised her own strength," Ms Pogmore told A Current Affair.
"It was getting really tight and I could just feel my neck hurting and I could feel my face going red and that's when I've kind of wrapped my legs around her and then we've fallen into the bushes and she's landed straight on top of me on my chest."
While Roberts regrets her actions, she said she snapped because of the "pressure situation".
"It's just one of those things that just happened so quickly and once I'd done it, I knew that it was the wrong thing to do," she said.
"There's so many viewers of the show and a lot of the top agencies do see the show as well so I worry they'll see it and think that I'm unprofessional or that I can't control anger."
Despite the incident, the girls maintain they're still friends.
"It breaks my heart because she's going to be a fantastic model and I don't want her career to be jeopardised over something that's just a complete misunderstanding," Ms Pogmore said.
"Obviously violence isn't right and I'm not sitting here defending what she's done, but I'm defending who she is as a person."
Australia's Next Top Model judge, Charlotte Dawson, said the incident rattled the other contestants.
"It was like a playground situation where maybe a stronger character picks on a more vulnerable character and things get out of control," Ms Dawson said.
"I mean it happens too much in the playground so we can't tolerate it on our show."
The episode will air on Tuesday at 7.30pm on Fox8.
