Liverpool’s Next Top Model Winner Leah Rose

11 year old Leah Rose Kennedy from West Derby walked away with the £1000 cash prize at the final of the Liverpool’s Next Top Model at the Hilton hotel in Liverpool. From over 5000 entrants Leah Rose fought off the remaining 50 finalists on the night to take home the overall grand prize.

The contestants, aged from baby to teen, took part in a thorough judging process which saw them judged through five stages of the competition by myself Tina Malone, Amanda Harrington, Charlotte Dawson, Mark Byron and Rachael Rhodes.

There were over 30 winners on the night and all contestants were presented with medals for taking part in the final with the winner of each category walking away with a trophy.

Finalists and their families were treated to a evening of entertainment between the catwalks with dance performances from LM school of dance, Rosalea Galvin, Kaitlin Stewart and Liam Halewood who recently appeared on X factor.

Participating in the charity round, the contestants raised over £4,000 for this year’s chosen charity ‘For James’ the James Bulger Memorial Trust, through fun activities such as holding cake sales, sponsored walks and even a zip wire through the city centre! The charity ‘For James’ aims to benefit and support young people who are disadvantaged by reason of having become the victims of crime, hatred or bullying.

Liz Forshaw of LMI Group said, “Congratulations to Leah Rose who was our overall winner but all the finalists were amazing and made it our most difficult competition so far to judge, with a deadlock for the overall winners place. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us, Tamzyn Angela for the fantastic room dressing and all our sponsors, not forgetting our chosen charity ‘For James’ the James Bulger Memorial Trust. ‘For James’ rely heavily on donations to fund their work and the generosity shown throughout the competition  will help them reach out to young people who will benefit from their support.”

Leah Rose’s mum Lisa Kennedy said, “We are totally overwhelmed, every single contestant was amazing and we never expected Leah to walk away as the overall winner. It has been an amazing journey which has seen Leah blossom and she has thoroughly enjoyed every stage of the competition. We also have to thank Leah’s sponsor Kiddy Academy Nursery in Wavertree who have been a fantastic support.”

For the list of winners see the LMI website www.thelmigroup.co.uk

 The LMI group holds four modelling competitions each year. The Liverpool Walk off, Liverpool’s Next Top Model, Little Miss and Mr Liverpool and The Face Of Liverpool. They offer an ideal opportunity for aspiring models to enter catwalk events and gain experience in the modelling industry. The next competition is the Little Miss & Mr Liverpool taking place in Spring 2016 and is now open for applications, for more details please visit the website www.thelmigroup.co.uk

Photo credit – Diane Thompson/Couture Foto.