The Model Agent

Handling

The Model Scouts, called The Model Agent during its first season in 2009, is an Irish reality documentary on RTÉ Two that follows twelve girls competing for a lucrative modelling contract.

In 2009 the series followed model scout Fiona Ellis on her search for an Irish supermodel. On her way through Ireland, Ellis spotted eight girls in the entire country and chose the last four of the twelve finalists through applications that she received. Each episode saw the elimination of one or more girls. The winner, Carrie-Anne Burton, won a contract with the Independent Models agency and a cover of Image magazine. Supermodel Erin O'Connor, who was also discovered by Ellis at the beginning of her career, advised the girls. Ellis said that, in contrast to America's Next Top Model, her aim is to rather give an insight in finding new model talent with serious ambitions without "all the drama".

In 2010, Jeni Rose and David Cunningham of IMG Models were the judges. The girls were taken to London, Paris, Sydney and New York. The winner, Tabea Weyrauch, was a 16-year-old girl from Derry. She won a one-year contract with IMG, became the face of A{{|}}Wear in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and appeared on the cover of Life, the magazine section of the Sunday Independent.