A New Low or the Next Top Model?

The BBC's latest model reality show "Britain's Missing Top Model" premiered last Tuesday night, featuring eight beautiful women, who happen to have disabilities, competing to prove that they have what it takes to become a mainstream fashion model.
Just like America's Next Top Model, the girls move into a London flat together where they eat, sleep and breathe the modeling/fashion industry over a three-week period, go through a series of challenges and photo shoots to see if they have what it takes to become a model. Then, they get eliminated one by one by a panel of "expert" judges. The winner gets a fashion spread in the British Marie-Claire Magazine.

With this training and experience, the show says the aspiration for the winner is to give her a foot in the door of the fashion industry.

Danny Cohen, Controller for the BBC Three says...

"This series aims to challenge the artificial boundaries that seem to exist in the beauty and fashion industries. "It would be great if, in the future, we began to see more disabled models gracing the covers of the world's magazines."

{ Meet the Girls... }

Jessica Kellgren-Hayes: England, Hereditary disorder which makes one extremely susceptible to injury. Jessica has lost all sensation & movement in her arms. {right}

Debbie van der Putten: Nethlerlands, Arm amputee {left}

Kellie Moody: England, Born deaf {right}

Jenny Johnson: Seattle, USA, Left partially paralyzed from a car accident {left}

Kelly Knox: England, Born without a left forearm {right}

Rebecca Le'gon: England, Leg Amputee {left}

Sophie Morgan: England, Paraplegic, paralyzed form the waist down & confined to a wheel chair {right}

Lilli Risner: England, Born profoundly deaf {left}

Disabled models aren't necessarily a new thing...designers such as Alexander McQueen have used them on the runway in the past and the girls on the show seem to enjoy all the attention, makeovers and shoots. But, is this a new low for producers in a desperate attempt for ratings??

Or, is this actually a show that represents the disabled in a positive light and offers them an experience they might not have otherwise?

The jury is still out...