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She’s the supermodel who turned runway success into a multimedia — and multimillion dollar — brand, working at the helm of two successful TV series simultaneously and introducing the world to ‘smizing’ in the process. However, in the early Nineties she faced racial discrimination while trying to break into the industry, with one agency telling her they “already had a black woman and didn't want another”. But once signed to Elite Model Management she began to go stratospheric and in 1996 she broke new ground and became the first black woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. Campaigns with the likes of Cover Girl and Victoria’s Secret were followed by acting roles before she was bitten by the reality TV bug.