CONFESSIONS OF A MODEL

She started posing in racy snapshots for lad mags like FHM, HOTstuff and the now-defunct Maxim when she was just 16.

That was her route to fame, confesses Miss Calista Lim, 26. But no, she will not sleep with any publisher just to appear on his magazine cover, even though she has heard stories of how some girls have made covers - in the industry parlance - through that dubious route.

Modelling is a glamorous business, but there is also a high price to pay if one wants to stay in it for the long term, warns Miss Lim.

First, there is the mental stress that a model has to put up with, especially when she is a newcomer and beautiful. You are constantly surrounded by beautiful people who can turn out to be the ugliest back-stabbers, reveals Miss Lim.

Everyone will have something to say about another model. Rumours will abound whether someone's big breasts are fake, and there's always talk about how so-and-so had plastic surgery to achieve her good looks, she says.

Then, models have to maintain their looks. No matter what. While she's never had a problem with weight, she has seen a couple of girls with eating disorders because of the pressure, she says.

Standing at 1.67m tall and weighing just 44kg, she says she does not gain weight easily, claims that she eats anything she fancies, and she "loves" french fries.

Her big break came back in 2007, when she won the Newman Cover Girl Search 2007. Her photogenic good looks also won her the Canon Perfect Face title.

Within months, she had made the September cover of Newman magazine, and was offered a modelling contract by management agency Phantom Models.

In her career, Miss Lim has posed semi-nude for magazines. But she says she draws the line at being in the buff.

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