Holly Carpenter has opened up on being stripped of her dignity and sleep deprived on Britain’s Next Top Model.
The former Miss Ireland is warning wannabe Love Island stars to think of the mental health impact before agreeing to go on a reality show.
Holly, 30, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Britain’s Next Top Model was quite challenging.
READ MORE: Holly Carpenter and James Kavanagh were arrested on trip to France
“Because it was a reality TV show and I was away from my family, it was tough.
“They strip you of so much, don’t give you much sleep, so everyone is quite stressed and it’s high intensity.
“It made me realise all the things that go on behind the scenes on reality shows to make participants have more meltdowns – to be more entertaining.”
Sleep deprivation was a tactic to encourage heated clashes in order to increase ratings, claims Holly.
She said: “You’d have a really late night of recording then a 6am alarm call and driving to a photoshoot and you wouldn’t know where you were going, what you were going to be doing.
“Then you would arrive to find out it was an underwater shoot or one with a snake and you would have no way of preparing.
“I really like to know what I’m doing in advance and it is testing.”
Despite it being gruelling, Holly conceded that at times she felt like a movie star.
She added: “We did a shoot with a big python and nude photoshoots and underwater shoots in the same tank where they used to film James Bond.
“Stuff like that as a 22-year-old was just incredible.
“I was more nervous about going under water. But you can’t let the fear show in your face as it’s a photoshoot.”
As with all TV reality shows, running the gauntlet of online trolls was par for the course.
Holly said: “It was my first experience of getting hate online because people would watch the episode and maybe tweet that they didn’t like my photo or be on the side of one of the other girls.
“Social media was relatively new, so it was a new experience of having strangers tweeting you with their opinions of you.
“I would have taken things to heart back then, now it’s like water off a duck’s back to me.
“When people watch shows like this or the X Factor or Love Island they say things about the participants on the shows without thinking. These are real people on the shows.
“There are people at home watching the shows too.”
Holly said mental health supports such as counselling are now a must on any reality show.
As the countdown to a new series of Love Island continues, she added: “They get torn apart, I can understand how they get counselling when they come out. On my show there was no after care, producers never even called us when we came out.
“I feel like looking back the conversation of mental health wasn’t as prevalent at all, you were expected to take things on the chin and not be sensitive.
“But now there’s more consideration.”
Holly was crowned Miss Ireland in 2011 and said she still had fond memories of her first beauty pageant.
She said: “I was only 19, it was the first thing I ever did so it opened up loads of doors. I was very young, I’ve no regrets.
“It made me grow up fast. At the time I was studying a degree in textiles in NCAD. I always wanted to go down the fashion and interior design route.
“To get put into the industry of modelling, photography, designers and travel – it was a great way to see how that world worked from such a young age.
“That’s how I ended up doing Britain’s Next Top Model after that and Dancing with the Stars.
“I wouldn’t have had these opportunities if I hadn’t competed in Miss World.
“It was fascinating to be with girls from so many cultures all over the world, I’m still friends with many of them on Instagram.
“I’m still in touch with them over 10 years on.”
And in defence of beauty pageants Holly insisted they are far from antiquated.
She added: “If someone went in and genuinely was the most beautiful woman in the world but they hadn’t done the charity work or gone to college, had no pride for their country they wouldn’t win.
“They try to find someone well rounded, so I feel... it represents passionate driven women. Yes they’re doing photoshoots in bikinis – but why can’t women be proud of their bodies and be intelligent and driven?
“So it’s not like women need to be put in a box.
“It’s celebrating that women are well rounded, I’d be pro beauty pageants like Miss World.”
The talented Dubliner has just released her first podcast Filter Free which is out now.
Holly said: “The premise is that even though we’re all in this industry, influencers and celebrities and sports stars, people are always putting their best foot forward, gorgeous pictures with their partners or lovely make-up selfies.
“But people can forget what goes on behind the scenes in people’s lives that you can’t see from an Instagram feed.
“I have a guest on and if I find a picture where I want to know a bit more about what’s going on I’ll pick it out and surprise them and ask them about it.
“People get caught off guard and I find they’ve been really open.
“I had Peter Stringer on and usually he talks about sport but he opened up on fatherhood and how much he loves his wife Debbie.
“He showed a softer side when I was picking up pictures of his wedding day and pictures with his kids.”
Opening up with James Kavanagh on the podcast about the time the pair were arrested – and strip searched – in Paris has grabbed headlines.
She added: “We had a lot to drink on the plane. When we landed James had lost his passport, we were giggling away. There had been riots in Paris so they saw us coming to security and because James didn’t have his passport they put handcuffs on us in the airport and brought us to a cell. With the airport police, there’s absolutely no messing with them.
“It was one of those situations where it was completely uncalled for, we hadn’t caused a scene, we were shook after it.
“They made me take off my bra and shoes and parts of my clothes.
“When we went to the embassy they said it shouldn’t have happened.
“At the time we just wanted to go home. “Sometimes people are afraid to talk about the times they messed up or when they did something embarrassing, but we’re all human so why can’t we just laugh at these things.”
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