BINTM 2012: Roxanne O'Connor - 'I was my worst critic'

In a shock elimination Roxanne O'Connor is the latest girl to be sent home from this series of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model.

MSN TV chatted to her about her terrifying photo shoot with tarantulas, how it was to work with Tyson Beckford and that makeover, which saw her brunette locks being dyed bright orange.

Was your experience on the show everything that you thought it would be?

It was, but it was a lot more pressure than I thought it would be. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I thought I'd be fine and that I wouldn't be too emotional but it was a lot more emotional than I expected.

What aspects of the show particularly put pressure on you?

I think I was my biggest critic really. I piled too much pressure on myself. I don't know what it was, I think that I just cracked under my own pressure. I also had a lot of pressure from other people, because a lot of the girls were like 'you're going to make it to the end' and I was like 'oh god'. As the weeks went by, the shoots got harder. So I think that I just cracked under all that pressure.

Did your confidence get knocked because you were under so much pressure?

After the 'Gentleman Shoot' we did, I was told that I was too cocky. That knocked my confidence a lot as well, because I was too scared to be confident after been told that. It was really hard to find the line between being confident and being cocky, it's a really thin line and it's difficult to find it.

One of the last photo shoots you did, you had to pose with a tarantula, but you got really scared. What happened there?

I don't know. Before I was fine, I think it was the buildup of going last. The longer you wait, the more and more tense it gets. I think that if I had gone first or second, I would have done a lot better. I had all the girls watching me as well, because I was the last one, everyone was watching me. It was so hot and it was so scary and I completely freaked out!

In the shoot, Tyson was really supportive and helped you which made the other girls jealous. Do you think he was giving you special treatment or was he just being nice?

I think he was just being nice. I think we all struggled with it. And, because I wasn't expecting myself to react like that and I completely panicked, I think that it's only human to react how he reacted. That's how most people would do it - you would try and comfort them. Especially because he's not just a judge, he's a mentor too and he was just doing what any decent human being would do really. Even though the other girls struggled, they didn't freak out as much as I did, so I think that's why he helped me.

What did you think of Tyson as a judge, as you had your ups and downs with him?

He's a really good judge. He's such a successful model and he's a really good person to have. He's had a difficult past and he's had his book thrown at him with people saying 'no'. He's had to work his way up in the industry and it's good to have someone in the industry that you want to go into.

How did you get on with the other judges?

Yeah, I really liked them. Julian was such so funny. I've seen him on the show before and I know how funny he is. He doesn't hold back, but he's funny with it. He's really nice - he just wants a professional model. I didn't really talk to Whitney much, I think that Lisa is her favourite. She didn't really say much to me, so I don't really have much of an opinion of her. I don't really know. Elle is 'the body', she's amazing.

Your makeover was very dramatic, how did you learn to cope with your wild hair?

At first I absolutely hated it. It was such a shock - I was like 'oh my god, what have you done to me!?' But then after a while it started to grow on me and I could see why Julian did it. He helped me stand out as I used to blend into the background a bit more. Maybe if I had kept my orange hair I would have stayed in? Who knows.

How did you get on with the other girls?

We all got on really well, it wasn't as bitchy as I thought it was going to be because I know what girls can be like!

Who do you think will win?

Lisa. Because she's just flawless. She has a tiny little model body, every angle she has works on the camera. I think she's the most high-fashion model in the competition.