GLAMOUR model Sophie Howard is heading to Edge Hill University as she begins to think about life after being a pin-up. As well as helping next year’s intake swell with young men the Advertiser asked her what’s bringing her back to the north west? Sophie has graced the front of Loaded magazine more times than Jordan and been on Page three across the stable of tabloids. But to meet her in person – as the Advertiser did – is to disavow any preconceptions. The former Salvation Army cadet is still baffled by her accomplishments. Sophie said: “I still don’t know why I have done so well – I don’t think I am the prettiest girl out there, I’ve not got the best body and I’m not someone to aspire to.
“It takes a lot of people a lot of time and effort to create the desired end result.” That hasn’t stopped her becoming a regular in annual magazine ‘top 100 sexiest women’ features for years with a string of celebrity admirers. But she admits that many of her shots are digitally enhanced through airbrushing and some of her saucy, revealing interviews are fabricated by magazine journalists.
Sophie said: “Sometimes, I see these wonderful airbrushed shots of me, and I know that it’s not really me. That’s just the way the industry works.
“One day, I will pose for a women’s magazine in all my glory with my pot belly and stretch marks on full display!” she said. Sophie ventured into modelling aged 18 when her mum sent in amateur snaps of her to executives at Loaded magazine, she was then studying English at Edge Hill University.
But success was not instant. A year and a half of endless low- paid, low-end photo shoots in London left her exhausted, emotional and ready to quit.Last year, she returned to the capital to live but shunned the bright lights in favour of a quiet North West home-life after six months.She said: “I was going out every night to huge, glamorous parties but I figured I would rather still be with my friends in Southport.”What I like is that if people in Southport know me, they are as likely to know me because they hung out with me on Nevill Street as a teenager rather than because I am that girl from the magazines.
“My family and friends are here, so why would I ever leave?”
Sophie, who is single, is about to embark on a degree in mental health nursing back at Edge Hill as she prepares for the inevitable day when her glamour career ends. She added: “I’ve loved every second of modelling and have no regrets about doing it. “It has enabled me to visit some very beautiful countries and meet all kinds of people.
“One experience I will never ever forget was visiting the troops in Iraq. I felt privileged to have been able to lighten their mood for a few moments. “But I’m not naive enough to presume that the modelling will go on forever and, one day, I’m going to need another job.”
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November 9th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I am in school. Guess I am lucky.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Great girl, going to school now, eh?