Page 3 Profile: Axelle Despiegelaere, football fan turned model

Axelle Despiegelaere, football fan turned model (Getty)

A hair-raising achievement…

It sounds like a storyline straight from Hollywood: a Belgian girl wins a big modelling contract after being snapped cheering on her home team at a World Cup game.

Seventeen-year-old Axelle Despiegelaere caught the world’s attention during Belgium’s group match against Russia. The photos were used all over the world, catapulting her to international fame. A Facebook fan page accumulated over 230,000 “likes”. Then L’Oreal got in touch, offering her a contract to star in a social media campaign,

But was she really ‘worth it’?

Perhaps not. Her new-found fame and success proved short-lived, when Facebook photos surfaced of her holding a rifle next to a dead gazelle on a hunting trip. The picture was too much for L’Oreal who parted ways with her.

A short-lived business relationship…

“Hunting is not a matter of life or death,” she said on the caption to the picture. “It’s much more important than that.” She went on to say that she was “ready to hunt Americans”, comments that were poorly received. Her Facebook page has since been deleted.

Ouch – L’Oreal were worried about animal rights, then?

It seems that way. A spokesperson from the French company told i that her contract has “now been completed”.

L’Oreal would not comment on the motivations behind the contract’s termination. However, they were keen to stress that they “no longer tests on animals, anywhere in the world.”