In her own words – model and actress Kerri Parker…
”Hey guys and girls, all about me: the real Kerri Louise Parker! Many of you may have misconceptions about me – because everything you read in the newspapers is ”true” right?! The press has dubbed me anything and everything – usually a good girl, occasionally a bad one!
Several newspapers have been known to make up ‘exclusive interviews’ with me in the past – and whilst our lawyers thought ”fantastic!” and we have had several lawsuits – it does mean I’ve often had words put into my mouth which I would never say and have reflected me in a bad light! So in my own words – here I am!
From beauty queen to Page 3 model, from actress to entrepreneur – over the last nine years as a full time model I’ve tried my hand at just about everything and loved every second of it! So lets start with just how I got to where I am today…
School days
I grew up in Norfolk where I went to Dereham Neatherd High School where I got almost straight A grades in my 11 GCSE’s, I also got my brown belt in Shotokan Karate at the age of 16.
I was a geek, I got bullied (which is where my love of martial arts began) and believe it or not I was not one of the ‘in crowd’ in school! And boy did I envy the popular girls – funny how things turn out isn’t it!
Kerri shooting in Bel Air recently for USA Maxim Magazine
Lunch times for me were not about hanging out with friends but eating my lunch on the computers in the graphics room to avoid bullies, and spend time revising instead (but hey it paid off with my grades – there is always a silver lining even if you can’t see it at the time!)
After school I moved to the city to study A levels at Norwich City College. I studied A levels in Chemistry, Biology, Law, Psychology and Geography and I ended up with 2 A’s, a B and a C (ok and an E but I never went to class – because of the bullies once again!)
This gave me the opportunity to go to university and study medicine with the aim of becoming a doctor. Being a doctor was all I ever wanted to do from when I was a little girl, as I wanted to help people! I really wanted to work on a children’s ward to just help them all I could. I’d spent hours with my nan who was a nurse going through her medical books and asking questions about everything to do with medicine and treating people.
My work as a medic
I took two years out where I worked first as a theatre technician in the Norfolk and Norwich University hospital, I then moved onto a job in the Microbiology department where I worked as a lab technician testing blood samples for virus’s which was not exactly glamorous but I enjoyed working in different areas of medicine as it was what I wanted to do when I was older.
During that time I was also a medic in the Territorial army for two years where I did my full soldier training which was so much fun, the army agreed to pay for my medicine degree for 6 years if I went back to work for them as a Dr. I loved the fitness training and the rifle training and really wanted to follow a career in the army, although the early morning drills and runs on an empty stomach were a killer! I’ve never been as physically fit as I was back then!
I still try and bring back a bit of nostalgia from my army days with a spot of paintballing with my friends, but I get very tactical! A highlight of my time as a medic was with the regular army, and visiting the Ministry of Defence base inside the rock of Gibraltor which the public never gets to see! Seeing where the forces lived and the base camps inside the rock itself was spectacular.
| Where it all begin with FHMThen one day back in 2003 I saw an advert for FHM High Street Honeys in a womans magazine. I’d always wanted to be a model so I thought I’d give it a try! I was chosen for the top 100 out of over 6000 girls and appeared in FHM several times, within days of entering my pictures were featured in the News of the World! I was so excited and was running round my parents garden screaming!
After that I won lots of beauty pageants, Miss Norwich, Miss Norfolk (twice!) and Miss Commonwealth, I was also runner up at Miss British Isles and represented England at the Model of the Universe finals in Ghana, Africa, amongst other things. I also made the last round and got into the final of Britain’s Next Top Model but got thrown out for being ‘a glamour model’ of course the press went crazy about that! The original Max Power Babe In 2003 I came second in the Max Power Babe contest and was determined to win it the next year! In 2004 I left my job at Microbiology to focus on my modelling, a month later I won Max Power Babe 2004 – a 3 day long competition of which over two thousand girls had entered. Within weeks I had front covers and features in men’s magazines, front pages of the press and page 3 appearances and was working with Jordan, Victoria Silverstd, Jaki Degg and Leilani at the Max Power shows! To date I have had over 5 front cover shoots for Max Power in the UK alone, a cover of their Max Babes special edition magazine, and countless front covers of their magazines in Europe, as well as calendar appearances alongside Jordan, Michelle Marsh and Lucy Pinder. Max Power really were the stepping stone of my career and showed me such amazing support. To date I have stayed loyal to them by not working with any other car magazines, despite the fact that they have stopped publishing. RIP Max Power I loved every second of working with your team and am still proud to call myself one of the original Max Power Babes! |
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| In 2005 I decided it was likely I’d never go back to medical school as I wanted to be a successful model for the time being so I enrolled on an Open University degree from home studying an honours degree in Psychology over 5 years. I am halfway through and still deciding on whether I have time to finish it or not with such a hectic career – but I love studying, I’m the biggest geek I know! I’d hate for all of the time I’ve put in so far to go to waste. | |||
Moving on to acting
The next few years saw even more front covers, and the start of my acting career, my biggest role being a speaking role in the Andie McDowell movie ‘Inconceivable’ and a credit as a cast member on the credits and on the IMDB!
I also had small roles in various films such as Lesbian Vampire Killers, The Bourne Ultimatum, Batman The Dark Knight (one of my smallest roles but which got me the most publicity) and spending a month on the set of the new Robin Hood with Ridley Scott who was an amazing man to work with. I am truly honoured to have spent so much time in such company especially so early on in my acting career..
I played the stand in role for Princess Isobella which was a great experience for me, I also once got to stand in for Megan Fox on How to Lose Friends and Alienate People which was fantastic and Megan Fox is a true idol of mine she was simply gorgeous!
I travelled the world with modelling, from Mexico with Maxim magazine to America as the face of a swimwear company in Florida.
I appeared in magazines not only in the UK but all over the world including American FHM and Maxim, American Playboy, even African FHM! (As I found out when I was on holiday in Egypt and was getting recognised!)
I have been so lucky and privileged to travel the world modelling and doing something I enjoy, it has opened so many doors for me and I am really grateful for every opportunity which has come my way.
The Academy
In 2008 I decided I had achieved everything I wanted to in the modelling industry and applied to go back to medical school, passing my M-CAT exams with flying colours and interviews for the UEA Medical School and then something else came and stopped me in my tracks…The Academy! The Academy is without a doubt the biggest thing that has ever happened to me, and I am still gobsmacked at it’s success (not that I have not worked hard for it to be as big as it has become!) It started off a small website advising girls on how to become a model, and just grew and grew!
Now it is one of, if not the biggest UK model training facility, with over 1500 girls having registered since the beginning! From new models to well known existing Page 3 models joining the Academy – it is definately the best of it’s kind.
My beauty pageant The Model of the Year contest was seen by millions when it was featured on the BBC, my own Model Tutorial Days (training and photoshoot events) which sell out every month, and now my own pageant training school as well! You can read more about the Academy by visiting the website here. There is simply too much to tell you about it all!
Making way for a new entrepreneur
In 2009 I won an entrepreneur award – The Shell Grand Ideas Awards and scooped £1000 to help me build the Academy website, I was featured in newspapers and on websites nationwide as an entrepreneur of the future – not something I thought I would ever have been labelled in a million years but it is my proudest achievement. Avon even featured me as a top business woman to encourage ladies of all ages to start up their own company! I was also asked to mentor business students at Norwich City College which I was very proud of – who doesn’t enjoy their own parking space next to the principal right!
Since then I have had countless newspaper features about being an entrepreneur, and the Academy and my Model of the Year and other competitions have been featured in newspapers and on radio features around the UK hundreds of times now!
World Supermodel Finals in Fiji
After 3 years focusing on the Academy and my competitions, I decided it was time to enter the limelight again and get back into modelling – as I really missed it, but loved helping the girls so much I did not mind taking time out from my own career to help them achieve their dreams.
Within a month of getting back into it I was hand picked by an Australian model agency to represent England in the World Supermodel Finals in Fiji in September 2011 where I came 4th out of 150 countries who entered, and also won their Peoples Choice Awards.
My martial arts and boxing
2011 also saw the start of my professional boxing training! With Maxim magazine featuring me at a celebrity model boxing event at the Troxy in November in front of 300 people. My sponsors the Norwich Kickstop trained me twice a week which I absolutely loved every second of!
I’ve not had much time to train since the fight but they have asked me to take part again this year with City Warriors white collar boxing in London, so I’ll be back in the ring soon enough!
The rest of my time is taken up with sporting activities, I love martial arts – training 5 nights a week and competing regularly – often bringing home the gold which I am very proud of! I took home gold medals in the Kuk Sol Won European tournament in both 2009 and 2010 and more medals in 2011!
Ending 2011 on a high winning Miss World Dreams UK
At the end of 2011 just before Christmas, I took part in the Miss World Dreams UK selection and won the title and crown, competing against girls up to ten years younger than myself! I’ll be flying off to Las Vegas to compete for the world title in 2012 and am hoping to bring the crown back to the UK! I will also be attending Miss American Dreams as well in the Bahama’s with this title as a world finalist as well.
2012 – Falling apart
2012 started in the worst way possible, with the death of my dear nanna two days after New Year. She had been ill for three months but it still came unexpected and as a shock which tore my life apart as I thought she was on the mend. My nan was my life, the person I ran to every time I was upset, every time I needed support, and we spoke every day no matter where I was working in the world no matter which time zone I was in. To suddenly have that taken away nearly killed me, I didn’t eat, I didn’t get out of bed, I just ‘was’.
It was like my world has ended, but with the help of my family and a month in bed crying I eventually let them convince me to get away for awhile and head off to America to fulfill my dreams stateside in March. I have no idea who said it but this quote now rings so true for me ”Sometimes…you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been…to stand up taller than you ever were.” I believe she is with me every day, and has pulled some strings ‘upstairs’ to my quick success in the USA. Making her proud was always what drove me to success and it still does. I miss her every waking moment.
The American Dream and the Playboy Mansion
In March I decided to apply to become a Playmate. I did not expect to hear back, and was at an all time low. Within minutes of applying I had an email from the editor asking when I was coming to LA!
Without a visa I could not officially submit for Playmate, but they invited me for a day at the Playboy Mansion in the meantime – and I’ve been there ever since! You can read more about this in the ‘Playboy’ section in the main menu.
I’ve created a page about my travels to the states on my official website http://www.kerri-parker.com where you can read more about this, and what I hope to achieve in bringing the Academy there! I hope you have fun reading about my adventures.
I was lucky enough to get signed to a Hollywood agent on the second day of my trip to LA, who sponsored by visa and had me straight on the red carpet!
I had red carpet appearances every day for two months, and cannot believe how quickly the press have warmed to me out here in the USA. I think the television networks especially enjoy the stupid interviews I give and trying to understand what I’m saying – they struggle with the accent!
I’ve now spent 6 months living in Los Angeles, and am flying back between there and London now for work, and my Academy events and pageants I run in Norwich.
Well that’s me! I hope you like what you have read, in an industry where everyone is out for themselves, I hope I am making it a more selfless, and enjoyable place for new models to be with my Academy and the help I provide to them. And remember – not everything you read in the paper is true! Remember to subscribe to my Facebook if you want a daily account of the ‘Kerri Parker Show’!”
Love Kerri xxx
The Kerri Parker Academy 