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Lisa Snowdon (born Lisa Marie Snawdon on 23 January 1971) is an English model and television personality. She was the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model from 2006 until 2009, and is known for having dated George Clooney. She has also worked as a radio host, presenting the breakfast show on the London station 95.8 CapitalFM with Johnny Vaughan. Snowdon took part in season six of Strictly Come Dancing and finished in third place, partnered professional dancer Brendan Cole.

Biography

Snowdon was born Lisa Marie Snawdon^[1] in Welwyn Garden City, England to Lydia and Nigel Snowdon, and has two younger sisters, Joanna and Lesley Anne.^[2] She moved to London to attend the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where her friends included Naomi Campbell.^{[citation needed]} After her parents split up when she was 17, she stayed in London and worked briefly as a dance and yoga teacher.

Career

Modelling

Spotted by a Premier Model Management agent at age 19 while pole-dancing in a London nightclub,^{[citation needed]} she was auditioned and signed up and started working with renowned photographers. Snowdon is best known for her beauty commercials and high-fashion cover and spread modelling, including cover shots for Vogue, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan and Elle; she was also the face for Gucci. She went on to be the "elevator girl" for Lynx deodorant in 2003, appeared in advertisements for Mercedes-Benz, Dove soap, and Kelloggs Special K, and was the face of campaigns for Neutrogena and After Eight mint straws, the Taxiwise safety campaign and numerous catalogues. Her modelling career led to appearances in Maxim, Arena, Loaded and GQ. She featured on FHM's List of FHM 100 Sexiest Women every year between 1996 and 2007 except for 1998. Snowdon returned to modelling when she became the face and model of Avon lingerie.

Music

Snowdon moved into other areas of work, including pop music and acting. A 1997 album, Spell It Out, failed to sell.

Acting

Snowdon had a starring role in Channel 4's short film Man's Best Friend. She also had a cameo role as herself in the Channel 4 programme, Plus One.^[3]

Television presenting

Her first host role on television was fronting Lisa Snowdon's All Access for VH1. However, she developed her skills to successfully take over the role from Lisa Butcher as the "supermodel" judge and host on Britain's Next Top Model, a contest to find Britain's next top model to rival the likes of herself and others such as Kate Moss and Twiggy. Snowdon left the show to concentrate on her radio show and was replaced by Elle Macpherson as of season six.^[4] This later role led to a series of stand-in and guest presenting roles on British terrestrial television, where in June 2007 she guest-presented the BBC's Sunday morning show Something for the Weekend, and, in August, Channel 4's tea time show Richard & Judy alongside David Walliams. In Autumn 2007 she was announced as the new co-presenter of Through the Keyhole with Sir David Frost on BBC One. She was a guest panellist on Loose Women in November 2009.

Radio

Having had various spells covering as Johnny Vaughan's co-presenter on 95.8 CapitalFM's breakfast show, during which she interviewed Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, the end of August 2008 saw an announcement that she was to be the permanent replacement for Denise van Outen on the London station.^[5][6]

Strictly Come Dancing

Snowdon took part in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing on the BBC paired with Brendan Cole,^[7] competing against other celebrities, including model Jodie Kidd. Despite pulling off a perfect score in the final three, she came third in the public votes and was therefore knocked out of the show.^[8][9] However, she currently holds the record for the most perfect 40's within an series and marks the first celebrity to achieve a perfect score in both Latin and ballroom dances. She holds a record for the series she participated in for the most first places with five.

Performances

Charitable activity

In 2005, Snowdon became an ambassador for the breast cancer care charity.^[10] Snowdon participated in a celebrity edition of The Apprentice in order to raise money for charity, part of the BBC's biennial Sport Relief event.^[11]

Personal life

Snowdon lives in Epping Forest.^[2] Snowdon was in a five-year on/off relationship with actor George Clooney. The pair met when shooting an advertisement for Martini in 2000,^[12] and the status of their relationship was well reported in the tabloids on both sides of the Atlantic.^[2]

She has dated actor Gary Dourdan and model Paul Sculfor.^[13]

References

External links

• Official website
• Lisa Snowdon at the Internet Movie Database
• Lisa Snowdon at TV.com