CRANEBROOK resident Jodie De Ruvo will attempt to shake up Australia’s Next Top Model.

Ms De Ruvo, a disability social facilitator with NOVA Employment at St Marys, has a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta.

This means she has brittle bones and while she can walk a little, must spend most of her time in a wheelchair.

Ms De Ruvo will join disabled Melbourne resident Elvira Alec to audition for the next series of the TV contest.

The pair plans to confront the judges at the Melbourne auditions tomorrow.

“We’re going in together just to make more of an impact,” Ms De Ruvo said.

“We thought two of us would be better than just one.

“We just wanted to show you don’t have to be six-foot tall and have a perfect figure to be classed as beautiful.”

They are administrators of Models of Diversity – Down Under?, a Facebook reproduction of a UK website created by model turned agent Angel Sinclair.

The UK agency has a vision of one day seeing models of all shapes, sizes, colour and ability playing prominent roles in the industry.

Ms De Ruvo said she was inspired to audition for Next Top Model after the premiere of Britain’s Missing Top Model. The show saw young women competing for the title of top model with a disability.

She said she would like to see the format reproduced on Australian TV.

“I’ve always been interested in modelling myself but would have no chance with my size and disability,” she said.

“One of the rules (for Next Top Model auditions) is you have to be at least 172cm tall, and I’m just over three-foot tall. It will be good to see the judges’ reactions – I don’t think they’ll be expecting people like us to come in.”

Ms De Ruvo writes a blog for NOVA Employment under the alias “Jo-Blogs”, tackling issues that affect disabled people.

She will publish an update on the outcome of the audition at candoability.com.au