Like any other aspiring model, Elizabeth Edwards has had to take criticism on her way to the top.

The teenage beauty was disparaged for her 'baggy eyes' and 'childish body' by experts in the modelling business.

Unlike most models, however, her looks were picked apart in front of an audience of hundreds of thousands.

Elizabeth, of Ashurstwood, near East Grinstead, started her catwalk career in the glare of the spotlight as a contestant on the reality TV show Model Behaviour.

Not only did she out-Vogue thousands of wannabe models to appear in the Channel 4 show, her looks so impressed the judges she was selected as a finalist.

Elizabeth, 16, was picked to go through to the final stage of the contest to win a contract with the elite agency Premier Model Management, which handled both Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell's careers.

She strutted down the catwalk at London Fashion Week and took part in a photo shoot to appear on the cover of Cosmopolitan.

In the end, blonde rival Jenny Richards, from Newport, was chosen as the show's winner last night.

She said it didn't matter that she hadn't won the show. "I'm very happy about the whole thing. I enjoyed myself so much.

"People have commented on how well I came across on TV and how I seemed to stay quite calm and stable. I am looking forward to whatever happens next. I do think I am stable enough and confident enough to deal with anything that's thrown at me."

Although Elizabeth didn't win, she was seen as the most popular contestant with viewers. The four other potential catwalk queens, most of who were living away from home for the first time, also praised Elizabeth for her sweet nature and calm temperament.

Sparks often flew in the shared London Docklands flat as both Elizabeth and fellow contestant Patricia Sheehan found it hard to cope with Jenny's messiness and the fierce ambition of Alicia Bostock, the fourth housemate.

A spokeswoman for the show said: "Elizabeth appeared very calm and unfazed by the whole audition process."

Elizabeth took three months off from her studies at the Michael Hall Steiner School in Forest Row to take part in the show.

Model Behaviour will be shown again tomorrow on Channel 4 at 1pm.