A different kind of beauty: in Britain’s Missing Top Model, disabled women battle to break down fashion industry barriers
Hit UK reality series makes Canadian premiere on One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel
What chance does a disabled person have of succeeding in the cutthroat world of modeling?
Britain’s Missing Top Model, a reality series from BBC3, tackles that question head-on. The six-part program, which makes its Canadian television premiere in March on One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel, follows eight young women with disabilities as they pursue the dream of becoming a professional model.
Britain’s Missing Top Model airs on Mondays, starting March 15, at 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET / 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. PT, and on Saturdays, starting March 20 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Rogers basic cable subscribers can also tune in for a sneak peek during a special free preview of One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel on Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14. Episodes air both nights at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
Britain’s Missing Top Model aims to break down the fashion industry’s barriers and challenge society’s preconceptions of physical beauty.
The eight women chosen to take part in the program live with disabilities ranging from deafness to missing limbs. Guided by their mentor, former model agent Jonathan Phang, they must successfully complete a series of modeling assignments and impress a panel of judges from the fashion industry, or face elimination. The prize: a shoot with renowned British photographer Rankin (www.rankin.co.uk) and a photo spread in the UK edition of the international fashion magazine Marie Claire.
Britain’s Missing Top Model delivers all the drama viewers have come to expect from reality TV, while also raising thought-provoking questions – about what we find beautiful, about our relationships with our bodies, and about our perceptions of our own appearance.
It may not shake the fashion business to its foundations. But Britain’s Missing Top Model could change your notions of what it means to be disabled. And it will definitely convince you that a woman with a disability can be beautiful, sexy, confident and strong.
Britain’s Missing Top Model was produced by Love Productions for BBC3. It received the 2008 award for factual programming from RADAR, a national network of disability organizations and disabled people in the UK.
For more information on One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel and its programming, please visit www.onebodymindspirit.com.
