English model
Paula Hamilton
|
---|
Born
| (
1961-01-02
)
2 January 1961
(age 63)
[1]
|
---|
Modelling information
|
Height
| 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
|
---|
Hair colour
| Brunette
|
---|
Eye colour
| Hazel
|
---|
|
Website
| www
.paulahamilton
.co
.uk
|
---|
Paula Hamilton
(born 2 January 1961) is an English model. She is best known for her appearance in the 1987 Mk II
Volkswagen Golf
TV advert
Changes
. In 2006, she returned to public recognition as a judge on
Britain's Next Top Model
, for two cycles.
Early life
[
edit
]
Hamilton's father died in
Liverpool
before her birth,
[2]
after which her mother moved to
South Africa
, where her mother and stepfather brought her up.
[3]
The family moved to
Hertfordshire
when she was eight years old.
[
citation needed
]
Hamilton has five half-siblings.
[3]
Aged 11, she learned that her real father was not Thomas "Ian Gunner" Hamilton, but a family friend, John Johnson.
[3]
Hamilton is
dyslexic
and did not learn to read and write until she was 11.
[
citation needed
]
For several years, she attended Burnham Secondary Modern School near
Slough
under the name of Paula Sherrin. She later attended the
Licensed Victuallers' School
, which was then in Slough, along with
Nicholas
and
Simon Cowell
, who were both at the school for one year.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
At the age of 18, after appearing in
pornographic
poses and after several rejections as a model,
[3]
Hamilton moved to Tokyo, Japan, and worked for 18 months. She then established herself in Australia and Germany before moving to
Italy
.
[3]
Returning to England, Hamilton was discovered by the photographer
David Bailey
, and as a result, became the main model of the Queen's couturier
Sir Hardy Amies
. During a tough interview with top Italian photographer
Fabrizio Ferrei
, Hamilton was told her hair was too long for the job. She promptly cut her hair, got the job, and went on to learn the tricks of the trade at Ferrei's side.
[3]
Hamilton reached the zenith of her modelling career at the age of 27 when she appeared in an iconic 1987 television advert for the
Volkswagen Golf
.
Changes
starred Hamilton, made up to resemble
Diana, Princess of Wales
.
[3]
She is seen leaving her husband, posting her wedding ring back through the letterbox, throwing her pearl necklace and brooch towards a cat, and ditching her fur coat ? but keeping the car keys. "If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen" ran the tagline. The advert began a new era in car advertising.
[4]
She went into rehab in her twenties, having become addicted to
cocaine
after being introduced to the drug by her agent.
[3]
She was clean of drugs for seven years before becoming an alcoholic.
[3]
In the early 1990s, Hamilton participated in a television programme
Back to the Present
hosted by
Eamonn Holmes
and
Esther McVey
, where celebrities are
regressed
to 'uncover' their past lives. Hamilton, while being regressed, revealed that in a former life, she had been a male servant named Ashley Brown who emigrated from London to Dublin.
[5]
Hamilton also acted, appearing in feature films such as
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
(1995) and
Monk Dawson
(1998). In 1996, she featured in the music video accompanying the British boyband
Take That
's single "
How Deep Is Your Love
". The single reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. In the same year, she also published her autobiography,
"Instructions Not Included"
.
[3]
[
self-published source?
]
In 2000, after the death of her friend
Paula Yates
from a drugs overdose, she left the UK and emigrated to
New Zealand
's south island, and started studying business at
Christchurch Polytechnic
.
[
citation needed
]
Having checked herself into Christchurch-based alcohol treatment clinic
The Deanery
, she later ended up as a media celebrity after leading a campaign to close the clinic down after it revealed private details of her admission and treatment. After her second arrest and conviction for
drink driving
, she returned to the UK after five years.
In 2006, it was announced that Hamilton, at the age of 45, had been re-signed by the leading agency
Models 1
, who hoped to capitalise on the popularity of more mature models, led by
Twiggy
and her successful advertising campaign for
Marks & Spencer
.
[6]
Also in 2006 she was a mentor and judge on the second and third series of
Britain's Next Top Model
on
Living TV
, presented by model
Lisa Snowdon
.
[
citation needed
]
Hamilton received therapy in 2006 and was diagnosed with
bipolar disorder
. It was revealed in 2007 that she had a combination of
dyslexia
,
developmental coordination disorder
, and
Asperger syndrome
.
[7]
In May 2011, Hamilton starred in the second series of Channel 4's
Celebrity Five Go to...
in which the guest stars visited South Africa.
[8]
In 2012, she was convicted for drunk driving again after crashing her car into her neighbour's conservatory in
Farnham Common
, Buckinghamshire, and lost her driving licence.
[7]
On 3 January 2013, Hamilton was revealed as a contestant on
Celebrity Big Brother 11
, becoming the third celebrity to enter the house on that night, and was sent straight to the basement. On Day 7, she became the first celebrity to be evicted from the Big Brother house, losing to
Heidi
&
Spencer
, and
Frankie Dettori
.
In February 2013, Hamilton was found guilty of assaulting a police officer with a
sunflower
and was fined £400.
[9]
Hamilton is now signed to the London-based Mandpmodels.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Hamilton has reported losing her virginity to
Simon Cowell
, then a boy attending the same school, when she was sixteen.
[10]
After naked pictures of her had appeared in
Mayfair
, she moved to London and for two years lived with a boyfriend, Andrew, and his parents in
Rutland Gate
,
South Kensington
.
[11]
In September 1986, Hamilton met
Dan Mindel
, a camera
focus puller
, and they married in London the following year. They stayed together until 1989, when they began a lengthy divorce process.
[12]
In the 1990s, Hamilton met
Michael Ashcroft
at the
Savoy
, when he offered her £200 for her charity Tusk Force if she would dance with him,
[13]
and they went on to have a long affair.
[14]
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
, Name: Paula Hamilton; Birth: 01/1960 Ormskirk Lancashire
- ^
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
, Name: Thomas Hamilton; Death: 09/1959; Age: 54; Liverpool N. 10d 108
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
Paula Hamilton (6 June 1996).
Instructions Not Included
. Michael Joseph.
ISBN
071814077X
.
- ^
"Golf GTi Development ? Part Six"
. Retrieved
2 October
2016
.
- ^
"YouTube"
.
YouTube
. Retrieved
2 October
2016
.
[
dead YouTube link
]
- ^
Eden, Richard (15 January 2006).
"20 years on from the VW advert, Paula Hamilton joins the ranks of the older models"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London. Archived from
the original
on 4 December 2007
. Retrieved
22 May
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Hannah Furness (28 November 2012).
"Former supermodel Paula Hamilton banned from driving after crashing into conservatory drunk"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London
. Retrieved
8 January
2013
.
- ^
"Celebrity Five Go To..."
Retrieved
25 May
2011
.
- ^
Model Paula Hamilton fined for sunflower police assault
.
BBC News
, 15 February 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^
Rebecca Hardy, "I lost my virginity to Simon Cowell at 16... but it was all downhill from there" in
Thurrock Mail
, 18 May 2011
- ^
Paula Hamilton,
Instructions Not Included
(Michael Joseph, 1996), pp. 15, 25?30
- ^
Hamilton (1996), pp. 81, 92, 118
- ^
Fran Abrams,
“Comment: The Tory Party piranha Profile: Michael Ashcroft“
in
The Independent
, 12 June 1999, accessed 26 September 2020
- ^
Richard Eden, "20 years on from the VW advert, Paula Hamilton joins the ranks of the older models" in
The Daily Telegraph
, 15 January 2006
External links
[
edit
]