A Rotorua contestant in the last series of New Zealand's Next Top Model is pleased a complaint about an episode in which contestants posed topless in a Rotorua mud pool has been dismissed.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has just dismissed a complaint about an episode inwhich contestants posed topless in the mud pool at Hell's Gate.
Rotorua's Amelia Gough was pleased to hear the complaint had been dismissed.
"We were covered in mud. We were never naked. I don't see what the issue was."
Anyone who entered a modelling show knew there was likely to be a nude shot and if they didn't want to be part of that, then they should not enter or ask not to take part in that particular photo shoot, Miss Gough said.
The complaint was made by a viewer who said she was "disgusted and disappointed to see one of the contestants being exploited".
The episode, broadcast on TV3 in August, included shots of contestants posing for a female photographer, wearing bikini bottoms and accessories.
Some of the girls were topless but their breasts were covered in mud and concealed by steam from the pool.
A 16-year-old contestant told the judges she was religious and "felt kind of bad".
"I don't think that's going to stop me from a lot of things as long as I have confidence in myself and confidence in the Lord," she said.
Broadcaster TVWorks said the contestants' comfort and wellbeing was taken very seriously.
"They have female chaperones with them 24 hours a day, their stylist on this particular occasion was a woman, as was the photographer.
"The models are free at any time to opt out of any situation with which they feel uncomfortable, so far this has not been the case."
The BSA ruled the nudity was effectively masked by the mud and did not breach standards of good taste and decency.
"No attention was drawn to her breasts; the transition between shots was relatively swift, and the camera tended to focus on the girl's face. We consider that the poses were non-sexual and were presented in an inoffensive way," it said. - additional reporting by NZPA
