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BINTM recap: Makeovers, tears and Louis Smith's pommel horse

We chat to Danielle, the latest model to get the chop, about those controversial makeovers

This week on Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model it was out with the old and in with the new…that’s right, MAKEOVER TIME!

For newbies to BINTM (where have you been?!) the makeover episode is the highlight of the series, where the potential models are taken to a top London salon and placed at the mercy of hairstylists and the judges who transform their limp, dull hair into high fashion works of art.

But high fashion doesn’t always look so great on the high street - remember Roxy’s orange afro from season eight?

We caught up with the latest model to get the chop, Danielle,to find out what she had to say about the World’s Most Stressful Trip to the Hairdresser.

“I’ve watched all the other series and that was one of my favourite episodes too,” she admits.

“Everyone wants to see the extremes - the drama, the crying. Part of you wants to see the girls with long hair get their heads shaved!”

[The return of BINTM with brand new judge Dannii Minogue]

[Everyone who's anyone was at the Serpentine Gallery Summer Party...]

“As a viewer you love it but when you’re actually there it’s so different.”

Tensions were high as the models waited to hear their fate but we’ve never heard of such a difficult bunch!

“If they say the words fringe, red, pixie, cut, scissors,bob I will just cry,” militant model Holly explained. That doesn’t really leave much though does it?

In fact, we were a little disappointed with loads of the girls this year – from Emily’s tears over the most minor trim to Abigail and Saffron’s refusal to have their hair cut at all.

Weeping, Saffron claimed that without her long hair she wouldn’t feel “pretty, sexy or beautiful” – but will she be successful with it?

Turns out we weren’t the only ones miffed as judges Dannii and Elle gave the pair a serious talking to.

“Why are you in the competition?” Elle asked them. “I think you’ve completely missed the point of being here, you’re taking the p***.”

For this week’s photo shoot the girls were whisked away from the city and indulged in a little horseplay with Olympic gymnast and all-round god, Louis Smith.

The models met judge Tyson at a country house straight out of a Jane Austen novel, which probably wasn’t a terrible start to their day.

There was an audible squeal of delight when Louis was revealed as their co-model for the shoot and Danielle confirmed that not only was he really nice but “he had great muscles too”. Swoon!

Upper body strength was what it was all about as the girls posed with Louis on a pommel horse, the Olympian’s specialist equipment and boy did he make it look easy.

The majority of the girls rose to the challenge, pulling off strong, confident poses that thoroughly impressed Tyson – Danielle’s favourite judge.

“He’s so down to earth,” the 20-year-old student told us. “He doesn’t put any extra pressure on you, he gives you advice and makes you feel comfortable.”

“And he’s got great banter!”

Unfortunately for Danielle, the shoot proved a little too much and the end result didn’t impress the judges.

“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” she admits.

“I’m quite athletic so I thought I would have an advantage over the other girls but I think I put myself in a really difficult position.”

Her best shot put her in the bottom four, which is not an experience she can recommend.

“It’s the waiting – once you find out you’re in the bottom four you can’t relax, it’s so emotional.”

“Because I’d been in the previous week, I knew what to expect but it didn’t help,” she explains.

“The elimination was probably the worst feeling in the world.”

Danielle’s BINTM journey may be over but the criminology student has a lot of positives to take from the experience.

“One of the highlights was getting to work with the judges –Elle, Tyson and Dannii. I mean, how many people can say they’ve done a photo shoot with Dannii Minogue or Tyson Beckford?”

We’ve noticed a fair amount of bitching already this series so we asked Danielle for her take on the atmosphere in the house.

“I think whenever you put 14 girls in a house together that all want the same thing you’ll always have some bitchiness!” said Danielle, who cites Adriana Lima as her modelling icon.

“I know if I had stayed in their longer I would have had arguments with some of the girls.”

Her tip for the winner? “I’d like Naomi or Sophie to win – they were lovely, normal girls.”

Join us next week when we’ll be live tweeting the next episode of BINTM, 9pm, Sky Living!