Model Scot’s Miami heat Meet the Glasgow girl wowing Florida
With her sunkissed skin and beach body, she looks every inch the all-American beauty.
But despite being discovered in a Miami nightclub, the hottest swimwear model making waves in Florida hails from Newton Mearns. Eilie Bennett had no plans for a career in modelling when she went on holiday to the States in 2012. Six years on and Eilie, whose picture is splashed on billboards across the US, is one of America’s most in- demand models and has the biggest brands queuing up to use her in their campaigns. Signed to Next Management, who look after Jodie Kidd and Lana Del Rey, the former Mearns Castle High pupil has shot ads for Saks 5th Avenue, Avon, ASOS and Target USA to name just a few. Eilie, a Miss Scotland finalist in 2012, says she sometimes has to pinch herself as she can’t quite believe how her life has turned out. The 26-year-old said: “It’s quite surreal. The States is full of a gazillion goddesses with beach bodies to die for but they wanted me, a wee Glaswegian with no experience. “But it seems being Scottish has counted in my favour. The Americans seem to love my work ethic and my look. They like that I have freckles but also take a good tan. “It’s been a crazy but brilliant six years. I have jetted all over South and Central America, worked with some of the top fashion photographers and shot ads for lots of high-profile international brands. “If someone had said to me when I was a shy quiet teenager that one day I would be on billboards all over the States, I would have thought they were having a laugh.” Modest Eilie admits she thought the scout was joking when he approached her on a night out with friends. She said: “I went on a holiday to Miami in 2012 to visit a friend