Speaking just hours after being crowned, Demelza claimed she had taken the rap for the remainder of the contestants who also bullied Byron Bay local Alamela Rowan during part of the recent FOX8 series.

“I know that I have taken the fall for everyone because I was basically classified as the ringleader. But that wasn’t the case at all,” she said.

“It was a group effort and something everyone was involved in. It was a pack mentality kind of thing.

“But I’m not saying it is something I condone. I couldn’t understand why I behaved in that manner.”

Following her crowning at Luna Park on Tuesday night, Demelza claims she sought out Alamela at the FOX8 after-party and “sorted everything out” in spite of reports Alamela was seen leaving the function in tears.

“I wanted to make sure she was okay and I wished her the best of luck,” said Demelza. “I said I was so sorry about everything that has happened and said I wished things could have been different.”

Despite Demelza’s public vote victory and subsequent apology, many are still split on the decision including Vogue editor Kristie Clements who sided with runner-up Alexandra Girdwood. And Vogue readers seem to agree. The magazine’s online forum leaned heavily in Girdwood’s favour yesterday with several readers labelling the result a “disgrace”.

However Demelza – pictured in a purple dress hugging runner-up Alexandra – said she was still looking forward to shooting her Vogue spread tomorrow. She said: “I’m excited to prove I can be a Vogue person and can set a good example and do the magazine proud.”

In an intense grand final showdown broadcast live from Luna Park last night, Reveley – the youngest girl in the competition at just 16 – overcame the notorious bullying scandal and “bottom heavy” criticism to put her princess pout forward and claim the prize.

While stand-in host Charlotte Dawson attempted to smooth over the cracks in Reveley’s crown by addressing the bullying issue, the on-air apology to series victim Alamela Rowan seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Rowan, who was left traumatised by the taunts and attacks she was subjected to inside the Top Model house, was noticeably unimpressed by Reveley’s win.

The last of the 12 model contenders to rush to the stage and congratulate Reveley, Rowan then immediately fled in tears, skipping the flurry of kisses and wellwishes.

Reveley wasn’t fazed, instead telling Confidential,”Everything is great between Alamela and I”. “I was disgusted in myself that I behaved that way and I wanted to make that known,” she said.With no formal modelling experience prior to entering the FOX8 program, Reveley was the fan favourite to take out the series.

After citing intense nerves, host Jodhi Meares’ 11th-hour withdrawal from hosting the finale prompted speculation she may not return for the fifth series in 2009.

A confident and calm Dawson firmed as Meares’ likely successor, despite a Foxtel’s spokesman’s assurance that “speculation is completely unfounded”.

The 16-year-old from Wollongong relied on the viewer’s vote to win the Fox 8 reality show after the panel of fashionista judges failed to reach a decision among themselves.

Three of the six backed Demelza and three wanted Sydney girl Alexandra Girdwood to take the title.

The winner picked up a modelling contract with make-up king Napoleon Perdis, a spread in Australian Vogue and chance to strut their stuff on catwalks around the world.

Demelza had faced a storm of criticism for bullying a rival model earlier in the show, but she saw her standing soar when designer Alex Perry told her she needed to lose inches off her hips.

But Byron Bay beauty Alamela Rowan, 17, who was pelted with water bombs, had a bucket of water tipped over her head and was subjected to other taunts and attacks by Demelza, said she shouldn’t have been allowed to reach the final.

Alamela’s dad Peter told Confidential that Demelza, the self-named “bitchketeer” should have been instantly removed.

He said his daughter had been “gagged” and told she couldn’t tell her story on a current affairs program about what she has called “one of the worst times of my life”.

Meanwhile, fans of the reality modelling show would have noticed host Jodhi Meares missing from last night’s live broadcast.

Jodhi, who was criticised for stumbling through last year’s live final, opted to instead pre-record some segments.

SHE’S been labelled a bully and chastised over her weight, but Australia’s Next Top Model finalist Demelza Reveley says she’s confident of winning – because her competitor is too old

Reveley, 16, will fight it out against 21-year-old Alex Girdwood in the final of the reality TV show next Tuesday and believes she’s in the better position.

“I guess I’d be a little more concerned if I was her,” Reveley said.

“I mean, she’s 21 now, so she’s kind of running out of time to do this and to make it in this industry.

“There is a short shelf-life being a model and that’s just the way it is.

“I’d feel worried if I was in her shoes.”

Reveley, a self-described “Bitch-keteer”, has been one of the most controversial figures o

n the show.

She bullied a fellow contestant by water-bombing her and tipping water over her head.

Now apologetic for the incident, Reveley doesn’t think it should affect her chances of winning.

“It’s not the search to find the best person ever – it’s the search to find Australia’s next top model,” Reveley says.

“I’m hoping that it comes down to our ability to work in the industry rather than the way we’ve made mistakes and handled ourselves.

“I’ve proven on the show that I can handle the situations that we’re put under and I am quite mature.”

Reveley has also received much publicity for her weight on the show.

The Wollongong teenager was told by industry experts that she had to trim down from her size 10 figure if she wanted to make it as a top model.

Since filming wrapped up two months ago she’s lost 10cm off her hips, sparking a debate that it sends a bad message.

Reveley says she understands why people are upset about it, but adds it’s only going to make her more competitive.

“It’s the way this industry is and it’s not going to change any time soon,” Reveley said.

“So, I can’t really do much about it and I really want to be part of the industry so it’s what I have to do.”

Fellow finalist Girdwood also weighed into the debate about Reveley’s figure. 

“It’s something she’s going to have to work on continuously while she’s wanting to be a model,” Girdwood said.

“Unfortunately, for her she’s not naturally svelte like the other girls. But that’s her decision (to lose the weight) but congratulations to her for having the determination to lose the weight.”

Girdwood, from Sydney says she handled the bitchiness on the show because she had the “brains to back myself up” and was also confident of winning.

The finale of Australia’s Next Top Model airs on pay-TV channel Fox8 on Tuesday.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23926671-10229,00.html 

And she’s only 16 years old! Her hips used to measure almost 40 inches and now she’s down to about 36 inches. And she told the Herald Sun she wants to lose more:

When they measured us at the start on the show they told us we should be around 36 (inches) but I have done my research and I know all the good models are usually around 34 inches so that is my ultimate goal and that would make me happy.
Reveley’s efforts have apparently paid off — next week she heads to the season finale of the show. Naturally, this is all very upsetting to people who feel teen models are put under too much pressure to be thin.

Model agent Priscilla Leighton Clarke will represent the winner of the show for a year, and — surprise! — she is not one of those people upset by this. She told the Herald Sun:

It [modelling] is cut-throat at the best of times, so it is really imperative that when girls go to castings . . . they feel 100 per cent about how they look,” she said. “That is what modelling is all about how you look. You have to be in shape to be a model – simple as that.

Some things never change.

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/06/one_australias_next_top_model.html

“It’s a juggling act, it really is,” Demelza told the Mercury yesterday.

“There is always going to be somebody that thinks that you’re imperfect, so it has not really bothered me in any way that people are having these sort of issues.”

Demelza, 16, is one of the final two contestants on the pay TV reality television series and will now face the public vote against Sydney’s Alex Girdwood at a live final at Luna Park on Tuesday.

Following criticism about being “bottom heavy” earlier in the series, Demelza embarked on a one hour a day, seven days a week, training session in which she has shaved almost 12cm off her hips since filming wrapped up two months ago.

The weight loss was described as “dangerous” by NSW Premier Morris Iemma yesterday and fuelled morning talkback radio.

“It’s not a drastic thing, it’s not like I am a waif or anything like that,” Demelza said.

“It’s more about exercise. I haven’t really changed my eating habits in any way, I always eat healthy and always have.

“I was happy with my body before but I knew if I wanted to stay in the competition and be in this sort of industry, that I would have to lose weight.

“But I understand why people are thinking that, I mean it is ridiculous that in this industry people think that a size eight is perfect and I think there should be more people that are average sizes, because the average size of a woman in Australia is a size 14.”

For the past two months Demelza has been attending classes at The Illawarra Grammar School while being supported in her modelling quest by her parents Andrew and Margaret, older sister Tanith and a close group of school friends.

She spent Years 7 to 10 at St Mary Star of the Sea College but left at the end of last year because of a friendship breakdown, which she says led her to then bully fellow contestant Alamela Rowan, who fled in tears.

“I could understand completely how she was feeling and I just couldn’t believe that I had turned around and gone and done what had happened to me,” Demelza said.

http://illawarra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/is-demelza-the-no-1-model/797614.aspx

Her dramatic trim-down has sparked fresh debate on the shocking pressure forced on teenage models to be thin.

The stunning Wollongong schoolgirl has spent the last two months since the Foxtel series wrapped filming slogging it out in 60 minute training sessions, seven days a week, in a bid to discard the unwanted weight.

Beginning the competition measuring a healthy 101cm around her hips and a size 10, Reveley is now 90cm, a size eight and forces herself to exercise with a personal trainer five days a week.
“I knew that if I wanted to succeed in this competition I would have to do it (lose weight) – regardless of if I won or not – to stay in the industry,” Reveley said .
“When they measured us at the start on the show they told us we should be around 36 (inches) but I have done my research and I know all the good models are usually around 34 inches so that is my ultimate goal and that would make me happy.”

This comes on top of allegations that sexy Czech model Karolina Kurkova is also too fat. 

While Reveley hopes her motivation will eventually reward her with victory over rival Alex Girdwood when they go head-to-head in the fourth series grand finale of the TV program next Tuesday, Premier Morris Iemma has condemned the pressure the young model has been put under to lose her curves.
“(Young girls’) bodies need to develop naturally without being subjected to fad diets or dangerous eating habits,” Mr Iemma said yesterday.
“It is completely irresponsible for anyone to encourage a young woman to do anything other than lead a healthy lifestyle, eat well and exercise.”

Modelling agent Priscilla Leighton Clarke, with whom the show’s winner gets a one-year contract, backed Reveley losing weight saying it was a model’s obligation to be in shape.
“It (modelling) is cut-throat at the best of times, so it is really imperative that when girls go to castings . . . they feel 100 per cent about how they look,” she said. “That is what modelling is all about how you look. You have to be in shape to be a model – simple as that.”

In fact, too many of them, according to several New York modelling agents, who have issued a shape-up or ship-out ultimatum to the Wollongong teen.

Despite being a sample size 10, Reveley’s chance of winning the coveted catwalk crown has been thrown into doubt after her “bottom heavy” shape was branded “a curse” by the tough industry selectors.

Following last night’s eviction of Perth glamazon Caris Eves, Reveley, 16, will now contest the Top Model title alongside competitors Samantha Downie and Alexandra Girdwood.

But her chance of emulating the success of 2007 winner Alice Burdeu are unlikely unless she drops some weight, agents at Elite and mc2 Model.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23883039-5013560,00.html