Britain's Next Top Model Judge Julien Macdonald Doesn't Want Plus-Size Models on His Show, Calls Kate Moss "Old"

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In a straight-talking interview with Wales on Sunday, designer Julien Macdonald—new judge on Britain's Next Top Model, OBE, and previously the creative director of Givenchy—told the newspaper that any model larger than a size 2-4 (UK size 6-8) is not welcome on the British version of Tyra Banks' reality TV show.

Despite the fact that Banks, the series founder, is proud of her curves, recently re-signed with model agency IMG, and awarded the top honors of America's Next Top Model to size-12 Whitney Thompson in 2008, Macdonald isn't budging. He calls the model-search a "serious show" and is only interested in seeing women who fit the conventional model mold. Here's a snippet of what he told the reporter:

· "I’m definitely the most opinionated of all the judges."

· "There were no plus size models. This is a serious show. You can’t have a plus size girl winning—it makes it a joke."

· "It’s not fair on them—you’re setting them up for a fall—I know what would happen to them afterwards. They are looked down on, they’re frowned upon. A catwalk model is a size six to eight. If you’re a size 14 in a room full of size eights—you’re in the wrong room."

· "There are lots of pretty girls when you walk around Cardiff, for example, but just because you’re gorgeous it doesn’t mean you can be a model. I had to tell a lot of girls to stop kidding themselves—I told them they would never make it. Some weren’t even tall enough—it’s not 'let’s find a 5ft 2in model'—you have to be over five-nine or you can forget it."

Macdonald goes on to say Kate Moss is too old to be fresh: "The biggest model we have in Britain at the moment is Kate Moss. She’s an incredible and fabulous woman, but perhaps we need someone who’s younger and fresher. What keeps the fashion industry going is new things."
· Plus size girl will never make it as top models, says Julien Macdonald [Wales on Sunday]