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The accidental glamour girl

Feb 22 2009 by Zoe Burn, Sunday Sun

WOMEN want to be her, men want to be with her... and it’s not hard to see why. Zoe Burn catches up with the stunning North model who once beat stars, such as Penelope Cruz and Gisele Bundchen, to be named third hottest tattooed woman in the world.

WITH her Angelina Jolie-esque features, curvy, size eight figure, brains to match her beauty, and a good head for business, Ann French really does have it all.

Forget the common misconception about models being dumb. This Darlington glamour girl is certainly no airhead.

Since she burst onto the modelling scene — almost by accident — at the age of 16, she has seen the world several times over, appeared as the face of several high-profile companies, including Playboy and Agent Provocateur, appeared in countless “lads mags” and now runs her own firm looking after models for Playboy France.

And on top of that, she’s also studying for a journalism degree at the University of Bedfordshire.

Ann’s career in the spotlight began when she stepped in to do a friend a favour.

“My mate had a shop where she made custom T-shirts, and she needed someone to model them for some photos,” she recalls. “Naturally, I jumped at the chance and I absolutely loved it. I wanted to do it again.”

She initially joined a local agency but, within two years, she was on the books of about 20 different agents across the UK. With her eyes on commercial catalogue and beauty work, glamour had never been something she had considered, until she found something else she loved almost as much as modelling . . . tattoos.

“I fell in love with tattoos. They’re pieces of art and I wanted to get as many as I could, but that isn’t something that matches the clean-cut image of the commercial model. It was a tough call. I loved the job, but I wanted to do what I wanted to my body, and the two just didn’t go hand in hand, which is where the glamour came in.

“I could model and at the same time get the tattoos I wanted. I knew that if I kept away from the tacky side of the industry, I would be fine.”

And for Ann, it worked out better than just fine. She began working at car and racing shows and became a Fuel Girl, a troupe of sultry performers who perform a mix of stunts, fire-breathing and dancing at parties and high profile events across the world.

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