Sophie Anderton: You Ask The Questions

So, Sophie Anderton, would you go on holiday with Janet Street-Porter again? And is it true that your boyfriend has as many clothes as you do?

Model Sophie Anderton, 27, was born in Bristol and began her career by entering herself in a national modelling competition as a teenager. At 19, she landed the Gossard campaign, and over the past eight years has also appeared in campaigns for Knickerbox, Sony, Topshop and Marks & Spencer. She has worked with photographers including Herb Ritts and David Bailey, and, last year, appeared in the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Until 2003, she was a tabloid staple, known for her drug problems and society boyfriends. Now in recovery, she lives in south London with her boyfriend, Mark Alexiou.

Model Sophie Anderton, 27, was born in Bristol and began her career by entering herself in a national modelling competition as a teenager. At 19, she landed the Gossard campaign, and over the past eight years has also appeared in campaigns for Knickerbox, Sony, Topshop and Marks & Spencer. She has worked with photographers including Herb Ritts and David Bailey, and, last year, appeared in the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Until 2003, she was a tabloid staple, known for her drug problems and society boyfriends. Now in recovery, she lives in south London with her boyfriend, Mark Alexiou.

If you had had the choice, would you have been born beautiful?
Barbara Palmer, Dundee

I wouldn't change anything about myself, but being beautiful certainly doesn't make you happy. In some ways, it's been more of a negative than a positive force in my life. But I've come to terms with how I am and what I look like. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world but I'm definitely not a moose. I used to rely on my looks too much and it made me a very shallow human being.

Do you like your bras pretty or practical?
Ellie Pritchard, London

Both. I have to be pretty, but I will not wear a bra if it's not comfortable.

Would you go on holiday with Janet Street-Porter again?
Liz Finch, London

I'd hardly call our stay in the jungle on I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here! a holiday, but Janet was really great fun. I know that a lot of people might not want to spend time with her, but if I were to go on an adventure and I could take Janet with me, I'd love to. She's a very intelligent, very strong woman and she was very honest with me. She told me when I was being a pain in the arse. I respected her for that because I don't like it when people start sniping behind my back, saying I'm self-obsessed. I am slightly self-obsessed from being a model and being in recovery, so I much prefer people to tell me to shut up. Janet did that and I like her for it.

Would you rather go naked than wear astrakhan?
Karl Turner, Edinburgh

To be honest, before I read about it I thought it looked really beautiful. But after reading about how it's made using lambs' fleeces, sometimes from unborn foetuses, I've changed my mind. I would never pay for fur, although I have worn it in shows.

What advice would you give to a teenager, like myself, who wants to become a model?
Mel Summers, by e-mail

Make sure you approach a very reputable agency and wait until you're 18. There's no need to rush now that there's been a backlash against very young models because of all the problems in the past 10 years.

If you do become a model, don't starve yourself or think that drugs are the route to being nice and thin. It's very tough, and if you're somebody who can't handle rejection, it's not the job for you. If you're lucky, like a few of us who have managed to get a break, it's an incredible experience. But it's also very lonely.

If you were made the editor of a red-top newspaper for a day, what would you do?
Julian Connor, Brighton

I would write nice things about everybody. I would give everyone a break for one day.

How hard was it to beat drugs for good?
Ben Harper, Birmingham

I've now realised that drugs weren't my main problem. I am actually an alcoholic first and foremost. But it has been tough, especially when I was still surrounded by people who did drugs. A drug addict does not want to see the person next to them clean up their act. It's also taken a lot to build up my confidence and learn to be able to go out without that extra help. I wouldn't know about harder drugs like heroin - I never did that. But for me, it was a question of putting my mind to it. A craving only lasts for 15 seconds so you've just got to get through it.

Is it true that your boyfriend, Mark, has as many clothes as you do? Do you think a large wardrobe is an important quality in a man?
Kirsty Ward, by e-mail

Yes, he does have a lot of clothes, although maybe not quite as many as me. I don't think a man's wardrobe is particularly important. I like a man to look great but I don't mind if he wears the same thing over and over again. It's different for men than it is for women.

What is your opinion of therapy? Is it worth the money?
Nigel Rogers, Newcastle

In 2003, I went into rehab and it was a waste of time - I came straight back to being with Mark Bosnich [the Premiership footballer and Anderton's ex-boyfriend]. Mind you, it was nice to be away from him for five weeks. Therapy can be good for getting you on the right track, but the industry takes advantage of people, charging extortionate prices. To be perfectly honest, I think therapists often have more problems than the people who go to see them. Anyone who wants to listen to everyone else's problems all day is weird.

Who is your favourite designer? And what do you do with all your clothes when you're bored of them? I'm always willing to receive cast offs.
Holly Mcdonald, Cardiff

That's a difficult one; I've got so many favourites. I love Valentino and Chloe, though. When I'm bored of my clothes, I put them on eBay or take them to a second-hand shop.

I understand that you were badly hurt by a drunk-driver when you were a child. What effect did that experience have on your life?
Peter Bennie, Guildford

Other than not walking for three years, it gave me post traumatic stress disorder, which flared up in my twenties. I had horrible depression for about four years on and off, and I didn't realise where it came from. Also, I was on morphine for a long time and I started drinking when I wasn't in hospital. I sneaked alcohol out of my parents' drinks cabinet because I needed to be numbed, so it set the pattern for the rest of my life up until recently. Also, at 11 you are so aware of what you look like. I nearly lost my leg - I had wounds open to the bone. So it had a huge effect on my life, but now I'm getting over it. I'm not using it as an excuse as much as I used to.

Do people forfeit their right to privacy when they become famous?
Ruby Dwyer, by e-mail

I didn't try to become famous; I just happened to end up that way. I do think the press goes too far. I got quite angry a couple of weeks ago because I had to drive around for half an hour to lose the paparazzi when I was going to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. It's important that I protect the other people who are there. But I think I have definitely forfeited my right to privacy now because I'm just about to appear in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, in which my boyfriend and I will be filmed 24 hours a day. I accept that. The difference is that now I have nothing to hide.

'Sophie Anderton: Me, Myself and Mark' is on at 9.50pm on 1 April on ITV2