Reflections on Australia's Next Top Model, episode the first.

Thank God cycle 6 has begun, I've been waiting with bated breath. The season started off well with a photo shoot after my own heart: Mad Men themed. Indeed the styling for the shoot and especially Brittney's outfit, looked fantastic though unfortunately the brilliant emerald green of her jacket was lost in the final photograph:

Thoughts so far:

1) I can't believe Sophie is only 19:

She was the most Betty Draper-esque in the shoot (obviously a good thing in my books) but I hope they give her a make-under in coming episodes - she looks way too Princess Diana-ish at mo.

2)Kathryn photographs like a whiter and more conventionally-featured Samantha Harris:

3) I wasn't a huge fan of Jessica's looks but am totally gunning for her after hearing Alex Perry's appraisal of 'not pretty enough'. God that man is such a crashing bore.

Jessica reminds me quite a bit of Daniel Johns' missus, Louise Van Der Vorst, who in turn looks like a pointier version of Gemma Ward:

4) ANTM deserves the latest fat scandal. I can fully accept that the current fashionable silhouette is an extremely slender one - successful models who do not conform to this ideal are in a tiny minority in the industry. For this reason I think it is unconscionable for the show to allow 'curvier' girls like Ashlea on show. I can only assume they do this (knowing they won't fit into sample sizes) in order to create some drama.

16 year-old Ashlea was too big for the clothes shown on the catwalk at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and was subsequently not allowed to compete in one of the episode's two challenges. While not a stand-out, her photo was perfectly pretty and one can only assume that the fact of her omission from the catwalk, and therefore her size, counted against her. ANTM needs to stop sitting on the fence when it comes to larger girls - don't put them on the show as a token gesture.