Jourdan Dunn, 18, is a British model. She lives with her mother and two brothers in west London

* I was brought up by my mum, my gran and my great-gran — all strong black women. I don’t have a relationship with my father. I used to think I was missing out, but then I realised it wasn’t me missing out, but my dad.

* I’m not comfortable with my weight. I would like to be more womanly, like Beyoncé. In the black community, it’s all about having a big bum. Not everyone wants to be skinny.

* When I was younger, I wanted to be famous. My life was a role in my own soap opera and the mirror was my camera. But nobody criticised me in Jourdan’s world. That’s not reality.

* As a model, you get told every minute, “You’re so beautiful!” It can go to your head. When some models work, they think like a princess and apply that to the rest of their lives. But some horrible models are just insecure.

* I don’t want it to be “Oh, black models are so this season”. Are they just going to forget about us next season?

* I cry every time I’m away from home. If I cry to the agency, they say, “Try to enjoy it.” My mum is more sarcastic. “Why don’t you just come home and work in Tesco?” she says. It’s her way of encouraging me, and it works.

* My brothers and I annoy each other at home. I miss that. It’s normality to me. There’d be real drama if I annoyed the girls in a model house.

* I don’t think every teenager is getting smashed. I got drunk when underage and was sick in my mum’s car. I never wanted to get drunk again. It was not a good look.

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