A teenager from Harrow is hoping to win a coveted modelling competition after fighting off thousands of girls to get into next month's finals.
Jessica Clad, of Wilson Gardens, West Harrow, has battled through three heats to get to the last stage of this year's Top Model of Colour competition, and will now take on 25 others for the title.
And as the only mixed-race contestant left in the hunt for the award she hopes her success will help promote her French-Malaysian background.
The 18-year-old said: "I think it is something to be proud of that I am the only mixed-race girl left in the competition, and anything that helps promote different races is a good thing.
"I would like to think I have a chance of winning, but I have met all the other girls and they are all really lovely - so the competition will be tough."
For the past few weeks Jessica and the other remaining contestants have been rehearsing for the showdown on November 8 - which will include a fashion show, dancers and music at Chelsea Football Club's Stamford Bridge home.
She added: "I have been modelling for a while and I did win Miss Harrow a couple of years ago, but this is definitely the biggest thing I've done so far.
"It would be great to win because I've held back on going to France so that I could take part in the competition."
The ex-Whitmore High School pupil finished a two-year nursing course at West Herts College in Watford when the competition got under way early this year, and had made plans to live in France.
She hopes that when the competition draws to a close she can train as a paramedic.
That may not be for some time if she wins, however, because the victor will earn themselves a one-year modelling contract, a return trip to Ghana and Paris, more than £1,000 cash and a series of pampering sessions.
