Openly anorexic wannabe model nearly wins BNTM

15th July 2009

Openly anorexic wannabe model nearly wins BNTM

posted in Anorexia, Eating Disorders, Fashion, Mental Health, Pop Culture |

When producers of Britain’s Next Top Model cast a contestant who is openly struggling with anorexia, they tried to reassure outraged audiences that Jade McSorley’s low body weight — so low that she was hospitalized shortly before filming — would act as a handicap in the competition. They rationalized the casting of a dangerously-underweight, mentally ill woman by claiming that viewers would see Jade being lectured on the need to put on weight and pacified critics by insisting that she was even denied for some jobs because of her low weight. Producers also maintain that the making of psychologists and dietitians available to McSorley – at her discretion — absolved them of any ethical responsibilities to her or their demographic.

Jade McSorley - BNTM So, maybe producers would like to now explain just how it is that Jade McSorley nonetheless made it to the TOP THREE, beating out 17 other women who, while they’re certainly model-skinny, would not be banned from catwalks in Madrid and Milan for having a BMI below 18 as would Jade most certainly be.* Jade came in as second runner-up to the title, but there are many fans who feel she should have even won it. Jade may be a lovely woman, but how fucked up is it that so many people were rooting for a contestant with a life threatening mental illness to win a competition that would surely be suicide for her. And again, I ask, especially now given Jade’s relative success in the competition: Will viewers see Jade’s bony arms, knobby knees, prominent ribcage and gaunt frame as ghastly… or glamorous?

Ultimately it was her anorexia that got Jade the boot in the final round of the competition which aired last night. Reports Britain’s Sunday Sun:

Judges feared the 21-year-old wouldn’t be able to cope with the physical rigours of such a demanding industry.

And Jade, of Middlesbrough, has said they were right to be concerned.

“At the time I was gutted that I got booted out but looking back on it I think the judges were right to be wary.

Wow, so the chance of winning a modeling contract contract in the same industry that celebrates and promotes an anorexic ideal isn’t a “cure” for anorexia after all? Who woulda’ thunk it! Jade most likely isn’t alone amongst BNTM or ANTM hopefuls in struggling with disordered eating and I admire the fact that she was open about her disorder, even as I think that if she were truly serious about recovery, she wouldn’t pursue a career in an industry thrives on and promotes an anorexic ideal. But BNTM producers showed a serious and reckless lack of judgment in casting a woman openly struggling with the leading psychiatric cause of death in the U.S. among teenage girls and young women. The fact that Jade was hospitalized for anorexia shortly before filming should have given show producers some clue that not would she be physically, mentally and emotionally incapable of withstanding the rigors of the modeling business, but that she was also incapable of battling it out in a frenetically-paced, high stakes competition that promises a fast track to an industry that values voiceless girls for extreme thinness and empty stomachs.

In the end, I think getting the axe might have been the only way Jade could truly “win.” The show was filmed months ago and since then Jade reports that she has put on another stone (14-pounds) in weight — bringing her weight to 114 pounds on a reported 5’9″ frame** — and that she feels much stronger physically and mentally. As much as I am hopeful for Jade and wish her continued success in recovery, I’m also wary for her. In an interview posted on her MySpace page, Jade says that she’s still “determined to make it as a model, no matter what it takes.” I just hope that what “it takes” isn’t her health or her life.

* At 5’9″ and 90-pounds, Jade’s BMI was 13.3, a good five points below what the World Health Organization consideres to be underweight and unhealthy.

**Even at her current weight of 112-pounds, Jade’s BMI is just 16.8 — still far too low to walk the catwalks in Madrid or Milan.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am and is filed under Anorexia, Eating Disorders, Fashion, Mental Health, Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On July 15th, 2009, Erin said:

we are never going to make inroads on good body image until THIS is no longer the ideal…..it sickens me that though

” When producers of Britain’s Next Top Model cast a contestant who is openly struggling with anorexia, they tried to reassure outraged audiences that Jade McSorley’s low body weight — so low that she was hospitalized shortly before filming — would act as a handicap in the competition. They rationalized the casting of a dangerously-underweight, mentally ill woman by claiming that viewers would see Jade being lectured on the need to put on weight and pacified critics by insisting that she was even denied for some jobs because of her low weight. Producers also maintain that the making of psychologists and dietitians available to McSorley – at her discretion — absolved them of any ethical responsibilities to her or their demographic”

she was still on the show and made it so FAR! unbelievable…it furthers this whole “skinny is better than healthy” ideal that is being pushed on us by corporations that make MONEY off us losing weight.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 11:30 am

2 On July 15th, 2009, gamer said:

“hey rationalized the casting of a dangerously-underweight, mentally ill woman by claiming that viewers would see Jade being lectured on the need to put on weight and pacified critics by insisting that she was even denied for some jobs because of her low weight.”

That sounds like an awful way to deal with someone’s mental illness.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 12:26 pm

3 On July 15th, 2009, Squillo said:

The fact that BNTM exploited Ms. McSorley’s illness is in no way excused by their ultimate dismissal of her due to their “concerns.”

This young woman has a serious, life-threatening disease–a fact producers were aware of before allowing her to appear on the show. Any responsible physician or psychologist would have told them that the stresses of this particular kind of program would be very likely to exacerbate her condition.

How outraged would the public be if producers had opted to exploit a young woman with another life-threatening disease–say cancer–that could be made worse by her participation?

4 On July 15th, 2009, Alyssa (The 39 year-old) said:

When one of the girls on these shows has a heart attack and dies on camera, will that FINALLY put an end to this insanity?

Actually, probably not.

Young women all over are literally dying to be model thin. And yet the madness continues.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

5 On July 15th, 2009, Boobsihazdem said:

A long time follower of the Next Top model franchise, I actually found her casting and the honesty about her weight problems refreshing. She is a recovering Anorexic, but she is still a beautiful person, and she was a talented, intelligent person on the show.

There were multiple instances where she lost out due to her body shape, but her photogenic face and talent in terms of understanding modelling still stood out beyond that. I don’t think the program glamorised her skinniness at all. She did well because she was a good model in terms of her conduct and her actual work, not because designers were fawning over her figure, and she put on weight during the show. I’m not certain how suffering from an ED is supposed to cancel out personality or talent, which is almost what it feels like you’re saying to me. She’s a person beyond her illness, and it’s that person that I think the viewers connected with, not the idea that she was stick thin.

She was eventually eliminated for no apparent reason, and her leaving speech seemed very scripted. Yes she was ill, but she was more professional and more talented than a bunch of ‘well’ people, and only lost because Producers were making an object lesson of her. I dislike that both the show and the media eventually reduce her to nothing but her illness.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

6 On July 15th, 2009, Rachel_in_WY said:

It’s hard to imagine a more toxic environment for anyone with an ED.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

7 On July 15th, 2009, Trabb's Boy said:

And meanwhile Canada’s Next Top Model picked the extra skinny one in part because the fashion editor said “I wanted to use that dress, and she was the only one who would REMOTELY fit into it.”

I loved the first couple of U.S. seasons, and also the season with the awesome Aspie Heather Kuzmich and felt wildly grateful to Tyra Banks for bringing her on the show and letting her show the world that Rainman does not really represent the autism community.

And in terms of size, though the skinny ones always win, the franchise has put some effort into including plus size models in the show. And I have seen very little in the way of body shaming.

Didn’t see the UK version, though. A competition doesn’t seem like the best environment to address the enormous issue of anorexia and modeling.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

8 On July 15th, 2009, Rachel said:

I’m not certain how suffering from an ED is supposed to cancel out personality or talent, which is almost what it feels like you’re saying to me. She’s a person beyond her illness, and it’s that person that I think the viewers connected with, not the idea that she was stick thin.

I have no doubt that Jade made it to the top three by way of her talent and skills, but I still feel that it is ethically irresponsible and reckless to cast someone who is openly struggling with a life threatening mental illness in a competition that could prove to be of irrevocable harm to her health and wellbeing, as well as potentially further glamorize a very serious medical condition. And while viewers may have connected with Jade the person, fashion designers and agents will only see Jade in terms of her measurements. And that is the purpose of BNTM, no? To train and groom contestants for the modeling industry?

Jade may have been well-qualified, but I am sure that the casting calls for BNTM attracted hundreds if not thousands more equally-qualified candidates whose weights are not so dangerously low that they have to be hospitalized. The show exploited Jade and her illness for sensationalism and ratings, pure and simple.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

9 On July 15th, 2009, Rachel said:

And meanwhile Canada’s Next Top Model picked the extra skinny one in part because the fashion editor said “I wanted to use that dress, and she was the only one who would REMOTELY fit into it.”

If a size-two or size-zero model can’t fit into your clothes, the problem isn’t with the model!

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

10 On July 15th, 2009, Jackie said:

This reminds me of the film Drop Dead Gorgeous, where the former winner of the beauty pageant wheels out in a wheelchair, obviously suffering from Anorexia. The film has a lot of dark humor, in regards to Anorexia, but it’s like how they nearly gave this woman the Top Model win despite her having Anorexia.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 3:24 pm

11 On July 15th, 2009, JennyRose said:

At the risk of sounding insensitive, which is not my intention at all, her photo looks like a typical model photo. I wonder how many models and actors are starving themselves to be very skinny, not because of anorexia, but because it is necessary to look a certain way to get work. Being very, very thin seems to be a job requirement.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

12 On July 15th, 2009, Laura said:

I actually watched the whole series and whilst I don’t think they should have let Jade on until she had gained the weight she needed to I actually found her very inspiring. She seemed very determined in her recovery and the show did seem to be helping her. When I first read that there would be a recovering anorexic on the show I thought it was hugely irresponsible of the producers but in actual fact I thought it was dealt with on the show itself well, it wasn’t promoting her look and she was repeatedly told she needed to gain weight, she said several times how her weight was not acceptable and she didn’t want girsl to think it was the right size to be.. I still agree they shouldn’t have cast her until she was healthy though as I’m sure she would have won if she had gone back for cycle 6 at a healthier weight.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 5:47 pm

13 On July 15th, 2009, Rachel said:

@Boobsihazdem: I want to also point out how many otherwise stellar candidates have been eliminated for the simple fact that they were too “fat.” So, regardless of how talented Jade is, wouldn’t the fact that she was severely underweight also be grounds for elimination? The fact that she was allowed to continue through the competition says volumes about just how concerned the judges and producers were about her health, which is to say not at all.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm

14 On July 16th, 2009, Mulberry said:

Could I just say how angry this kind of situation gets me? I’ll tell you why – imagine a young woman of about 250 pounds or so appearing as a potential model. Let’s further assume that this fat person eats a healthy nourishing diet and gets plenty of exercise regularly. Can you just picture the outcry? People would say things like, “She’s promoting obesity!”, or “She’s promoting an unhealthy lifestyle!”, and other things even less complimentary.
As for Jade herself, I think it’s monstrous that she and others feel they must starve themselves to get modeling jobs, just because designers can’t bother their sorry butts to add more material to their clothing. Who are they designing these tiny clothes for, anyway?

posted on July 16th, 2009 at 1:08 am

15 On July 16th, 2009, Boobsihazdem said:

I’ve not watched other BNTM series, so I’m not aware of the history of ‘models deemed too big’, although in this same series there were definitely girls calling themselves fat and bemoaning their bodyshapes, and they never seemed to receive any counselling to the contrary.

ANTM seems to have a strange doublespeak wherein they berate plus sized contestants for losing weight, and hate on the ‘skinny team’ for gaining an ounce of fat. The case of one contestant called London, she was a recovering anorexic, and the stress of the show this time pushed her eating in the other direction. The show had some really nasty editing making fun of her for those few extra pounds, in a way that is probably more damaging than BNTM’s treatment of Jade ever could have been.

To me reality TV is always at it’s core exploitative, from the ‘Super Nanny’ shows, to the shows that target young people at a vulnerable stage in their lives, none of the producers or editors of these shows can be seen as particularly ethical. At the end of the day they’re making entertainment out of the foibles, follies, hopes and dreams of the contestants. At the end of the day, adult participants also need to take some responsibility for their own participation

posted on July 16th, 2009 at 4:12 am

16 On July 16th, 2009, D said:

I lived in York, England for 3 months when I studied abroad there. I never saw BNTM while I was there (now I’m glad that I didn’t), and I never met anyone with an eating disorder there (although I know I was only there for a short time). Obviosuly the American ideal of thin has permeated to other cultures. It’s very sad.

posted on July 16th, 2009 at 8:46 am

17 On July 16th, 2009, Rachel said:

@D: I don’t think it’s strictly an American phenomenon as it is an affluent, industrialized nations phenomenon.

posted on July 16th, 2009 at 9:21 am

18 On July 16th, 2009, ItsTheWooo said:

The idea that they had a severe recovering anorexic on their show is too ridiculous to even criticize seriously. It’s like the poster above me said, this belongs in a black humor movie. That’s like having a competition about wine making or saturday night drinking featuring a cast member who had recovering alcoholism. It’s like having a show called “americas next top marathoner” with a dude who was paraplegic.

I mean there’s sensationalism and controversy (i.e. the casting of heavy women in modeling competitions) and then there is just poor taste and almost barbaric inhumanity (the casting of women with a history of severe anorexia in modeling competitions).

The only reason it even occurred is because the average size 16 potato chip munching viewer at home doesn’t realize anorexia is a real disease, closely related to depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and such. Your typical person thinks an anorexic can just snap out of it if given the right encouragement (or if they stop being so arrogant, perfectionist, stuck up). It is almost impossible for a normal person to conceptualize the inability to eat, especially when hungry and starving.

posted on July 16th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

19 On July 17th, 2009, Rachel2 said:

I’ve been trying to formulate a thoughtful reply to this post, and I can’t do it. I am too outraged to even know where to begin!

We know that there is an ENORMOUS double-standard on this one. Are they going to cast a 250 pound model? I don’t think so.

Lecturing an openly anorexic model about how ‘she needs to gain weight’ is nothing but a token comment. Should she actually win the competition and go out there into the “Real” modeling world, that can only be akin to throwing somebody into a snake pit without any anti-venom. I find this move by BNTM to be horrendously irresponsible and extremely gimmicky.

These “reality” shows need to take have a swift boot shoved up their asses anyway.

I’m sure that there were thousands of other, healthier models out there that could have been cast. On the other side of the coin, I can say that although I find BNTM to be excruciatingly irresponsible in casting this young woman with a deathly mental illness to compete in an environment that normally serves to exacerbate such a condition, I am glad that she is able to be open and honest about her disease and that she is making progress to put on a healthy weight. However, this does not exonerate BNTM’s extreme, gross, and crass irresponsibility on this matter. It also does not prevent or help the problem at hand: fashion designers with their sick and twisted modeling ideals. When a size 0 or 2 model can’t fit into the clothes, it’s definitely time to accept the creative challenge of USING MORE FABRIC than normally intended for a wire or coat hanger.

Unfortunately, there are too many problems to list here.

posted on July 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

20 On July 18th, 2009, Liza said:

This would be like putting me in a contest where I had to watch car accidents and then eliminating me because I exhibited symptoms of PTSD.

posted on July 18th, 2009 at 8:45 pm

21 On July 20th, 2009, Alex said:

I don’t see how Jade looks very different from other catwalk models. It seems sad and unfair that she would be particularly targeted as “the anorexic model” when she’s surrounded by other women who are as sick as she is.

I don’t think it’s remotely possible for her to recover in that kind of environment. You can’t eliminate the health-hating voices in your own head when your JOB is health-hating. 114 pounds at 5’9″ is a step in the right direction, but it’s still not a healthy weight by any means. But it’s considered ideal by the industry. I’m sure if she were to reach a truly healthy weight she’d be berated for it.

This is an easy way for producers to appear to take eating disorders seriously in light of recent criticism for too-skinny models.

posted on July 20th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

22 On July 23rd, 2009, kim said:

you cant even criticize her. Its the whole damn industry. Both Alesandra Ambrosio and Marisa Miller both list their heights and weights on their website and theyre both about 110lbs. Sadly, the era of goregeous, athletic 90s models is over. Now we have creepy skeletons to aspire to be like.

posted on July 23rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm