WHEN I WAS... 16: Jo Wood on the year she started modelling - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity WHEN I WAS… 16 Jo Wood on the year she started modelling By You Magazine - August 19, 2018 This week: beauty entrepreneur Jo Wood on the year she started modelling. Getty Images One to watch This photo was taken when I became The Sun’s Face of 1972. It was a big deal and I went on tv. I remember being asked what was on trend and saying, ‘the natural look.’ Whatever that means! I was over the moon to wear this biba dress. I still collect Biba from vintage shops. My role model I was desperate to be like Twiggy. My mum and dad asked a photographer called Robert Hallmann to take some test shots of me that I could show to an agent. This was one of them, taken near Basildon, Essex, where I grew up. I love that I’m here with a little squirrel. I wasn’ t shy I began modelling in the summer after leaving school and was voted the Face of 1972 just before christmas. I never felt overwhelmed by the attention. I jumped at the chance to wear bikinis and a fur coat without a bra. Dad’ s advice When I told my dad [pictured] I wanted to be a model, he said, ‘model is another word for prostitute!’ but when I became one he was proud of me. He was obsessed with Lambrettas and asked me to pose on one. I love the hotpants I’m wearing – they’re in again now! I started young I began going into London aged 14 to do a modelling course. Looking back, it was quite brave. I wouldn’t have let my daughter do it but my mum had three younger children to look after, so she couldn’t take me. A taste of things to come This was taken in Southend, Essex. As a model I was going out to restaurants, clubs and parties – it got me used to the life that I’ve ended up living. Robert Hallmann Finding my own style I look a bit like Twiggy in this fashion shoot for the Daily Mirror, but the more I worked the more I developed my own identity and stopped wanting to ‘be’ her. Jo is founder of Jo Wood Organics and an ambassador for Rainforest charity Cool Earth. Buy Vivienne Westwood’s limited-edition Save the Rainforest T-shirt, £23, at coolearth.org RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved