by Suzette Banzo

One year ago Americans witnessed a victory in our lifetime that so many before us fought to achieve. The most powerful office in the world was redefined. It no longer stood for a specific color; it was replaced by a very specific message, hope.

Times change and silhouettes should too. When the hit television show America's Next Top Model awarded Whitney Thompson that very title, it was the first time a plus size model was recognized as the Next Top Model, not the next plus size model; the category melded into one.

Whitney is trying to be a role model for young women everywhere and shares a similar trait with the Supermodels of yesteryear; she is making a name for herself in more than one industry. Along the way, she is also shedding light and raising awareness on an issue she embraces, eating disorders. Whitney, a beautiful woman who celebrates her healthy body, hopes to broaden the definition of beauty, making it inclusive rather than exclusive.

[Suzette] We have so much to talk about in such little time! Let's start with how you became a model, life after America's Next Top Model (ANTM), and then let's chat about your exciting new venture "Supermodel". Were you a plus model before you signed up for ANTM?

[Whitney] No, I was in college when I was on ANTM. I modeled on a local level when I was 15 while living in Jacksonville, Florida. I was skinnier then, but I constantly heard that my hips were an inch too big.





As I tried to lose weight, I was told, "We'd send you to Milan tomorrow, and you would be phenomenal because you have perfect bone structure, but your hips are an inch too big". I went to Miami to work with an agency and lived in a model apartment while I was in high school. There was a man there who had me eat a half a can of tuna and half an apple all day. Then he would have me get on a treadmill and watch me run until I threw up and then he had me get back on the treadmill. I didn't want to live that way so I quit. I have never had an eating disorder, and didn't want to get one because of this man watching over me. I never modeled again and decided to go to school to be a pediatric surgeon.

One day while vacationing in LA, I was approached at the airport by a woman that identified herself as someone from ANTM who asked if I would be comfortable being considered a plus size model on the show and I said "Absolutely! Yes, I have a story to tell. I don't want other girls to go through what I did!" I get so upset hearing stories about how fourteen-year-old girls are measured each week in modeling agencies. I find it disgusting. I think that one of the reasons I am so confident is because I have been on the other side where I was never skinny enough, never good enough. I am very passionate about not letting other people go through that. I'm actually writing a book right now about those experiences; I don't want people to be so naïve.

[Suzette] How did you like working for Cover Girl?

[Whitney] It was good, interesting. My product was Lash Blast Mascara. I had an ad in People Magazine and the billboard in Times Square was really cool. I also shot 10 commercials for "My life as a Cover Girl".

[Suzette] What was it like to see the billboard? That is every models dream!

[Whitney] It was FUN! I had no idea my billboard was up because Cover Girl doesn't tell you. I was just walking around with some friends, we turned the corner, and there it was, huge above the Virgin record store, a prime location. That was awesome! I hope to have another billboard again.



Photographer:
www.ilcreative.com