Erin O'Connor

Growing up, I had an insane crush on Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys. ”

When you're physically growing up, you develop emotionally with that. ”

My plan growing up was to leave home and try not to panic. I always knew that to strive to be self-sufficient was an important ambition. ”

I see myself as the female John Cleese. ”

I have two curiosity cabinets at home filled with finds from jumble sales, markets and my travels. My favourite piece is a voodoo mask from just outside Cape Town. ”

I think most models fear growing old, but from a tender age I had always chosen to play someone grown up. I am slowly but surely catching up with the people that I have spent the last decade and a half trying to portray. ”

Starting my career in London was no accident because the city and the industry here are all about theatre and drama, and I respond well to that. ”

Rejection is, of course, part of any successful model's career, as ironic as that sounds. It's how you pick yourself up and get on with the job. ”

In my career, which has been fairly two-dimensional, people make decisions based on your persona. ”

In the early days of my modelling career, I think the industry was uncomfortable with how strikingly different I was. ”