SHE got down to the last ten out of 12,000 in a national modelling competition. Women's Editor Christen Pears meets the teenager who wants to be a star on the catwalk.

KAYLEIGH-Anne Pattison steps out from behind the changing room curtain. "What do you think?" she asks nervously as she smoothes out the dress she's wearing. "Does it look okay?" It looks more than okay; Kayleigh-Anne would look stunning even if she was wearing a bin bag.

Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, the 16-year-old looks like any other pretty teenager but put her in front of a camera and she becomes a model. She moves, stands and looks like a model. She's confident, relaxed and the lens loves her.

Kayleigh-Anne, who lives in Darlington, was one of ten finalists in the Channel 4 programme, Model Behaviour, where the prize is a modelling contract and a foothold in the notoriously competitive world of fashion. She beat 12,000 entrants to get to the final stages but wasn't one of the eight chosen to move into a luxury flat in London and have their every move recorded on camera.

"I was really disappointed at the time but now I've watched the programme, I'm not sure I would have wanted to be in the house. There seems to be so much pressure," she says.

"There was a lot of pressure even when it was just the last ten. You would get up first thing in the morning and there would be cameras outside your door. They'd be talking to you over breakfast, asking you all sorts of questions - how you felt, whether you were enjoying yourself. They were in your face all the time. It was non-stop.

"It was quite strange because you were competing with everyone but you were all trying to support each other at the same time. It wasn't anywhere near as bitchy as I thought it was going to be but there were a lot of people who put on these fake personalities. I didn't bother with any of that. I'm me and I'm not going to change that for anyone."

Kayleigh-Anne has been interested in modelling for a few years and is now determined to make a career of it.

"I first thought about it seriously about three years ago when I was staying with my older sister. All her friends kept saying I should think about modelling and took me to the Clothes Show. I was spotted by a scout from Select who gave me his card and said I should get a portfolio together but, at the time, it was just too expensive."

She put the idea out of her mind but a year later, she was asked by the manager of Darlington's Toni & Guy salon to be a hair model. It gave her a taste for being in front of the lens and when she heard about Model Behaviour, she applied immediately.

"I saw the adverts on the television and I decided to go for it. I went to the audition in Newcastle and queued from six o'clock in the morning. It was freezing so I had on my warm clothes and then just before the doors opened, I changed into my other outfit. Everyone remembered that."

She clearly made an impression on the judges too and was one of just six people from the region chosen to go through to the next round. She joined other hopefuls in London and spent a week modelling and meeting the judges, who chose her to be in the final ten. Sadly, she was told her age counted against her.

"They said I was too young but if that's the case, I can't see why they opened the competition to 16-year-olds in the first place," she says. There's a trace of bitterness in her voice but she moves on quickly.

"Of course I was disappointed but then my exam results came through and I'd done really well. I had a home tutor for the last 18 months because I was suffering from panic attacks in the classroom. It's really strange but I can get up on a catwalk in front of hundreds of people but when it came to school, it was completely different. I still managed to get ten Bs at GCSE, though."

Until she took part in Model Behaviour, she had intended to go to college and wanted to be a criminal psychologist but being on the programme changed things for her

"I know now that I really want to get into modelling. I'm going to concentrate on that and I've learned a lot from Model Behaviour. We had a workshop on catwalk techniques. We learned how to tailor our clothes to our look, we went for a fitting at Harvey Nicks and we had a photoshoot for The Sun. I think what I learned is going to set me up really well for my career.

"I know I didn't get into the house but we were told there was a good chance all the finalists would get a contract. Even if I don't, I'll just go to London. I know some of the other agencies are already asking for the finalists to contact them. I think it will turn out to have been a really good break for me."