She’s Got the Look: Modeling for Grown-Ups

Robert Verdi, Brooke Burke, Roshumba Williams and Sean Patterson star in the third season of 'She's Got the Look.'

While we find America’s Next Top Model a guilty pleasure, we relate much more to the just-as-gorgeous over-35 contestants on TV Land’s She’s Got the Look, which premieres its third season tonight. Selected from thousands who applied, 10 women ranging in age from 35–54, including a bus driver, a prosecutor and a grandmother of six, compete for a prize package that includes a contract with Wilhelmina Models.

The Los Angeles location isn’t the only thing new about Look this season: Ex-model and Dancing With the Stars winner-turned-co-host Brooke Burke is the new host, and supermodel Roshumba Williams joins stylist Robert Verdi and Wilhelmina’s Sean Patterson on the judging panel.

“We’re looking for the total package,” says Williams, explaining that when it comes to older models, advertisers “want someone who’s relatable, has life experience, who’s physically beautiful but also has a story.” This season, Look aims to “show more of the process of what a model really goes through,” adds Williams, 42, whose guest appearance in season one teaching contestants how to walk the runway led to her new role. “They saw that I connected with them and knew what I was talking about. I was brought in to give that how-to perspective.”

For host and mentor Burke, 38, “It was amazing to work with a group of women that were really discovering things about themselves. A lot of these women had not modeled before. It wasn’t as if they were returning to a career that they gave up. They were finding their confidence and figuring out what they wanted to do with their lives, and they had such a zest for life.”

With challenges such as underwater and aerial fashion shoots, contestants had to conquer their fears, and Williams had to face one of her own: criticizing the contestants and making them cry. “I’ve been there,” she says. “I’ve stood in front of people who judge you not because of what you do, but how you look.”

Tears flowed nevertheless, “not necessarily from things I or the judges said. But I was glad that I was there because I could relate to their pain and I knew how to teach them how to use it to overcome their challenge and make it work for them. It’s my way of being there for women,” Williams says. “There’s something about helping women rediscover themselves and overcome obstacles.”

Have you dealt with a challenge that changed you for the better? Tell us about it in VIV Moments!

Photo credit: Kristian Dowling/PictureGroup