It’s been a busy six months for Fraser Barke. After winning the 2010 Vancouver Gay Top Model competition in April, Fraser has already traveled across North America from Seattle to Toronto to New York and will soon be working with Wilhelmina Models in Miami.
“It's really been a whirlwind since winning Gay Top Model,” said Barke. From the cover of Fantasticmag (photo right) to print ads for The Bay, Walmart and Hakim Optical, Barke has not been suffering for work. But while he has seen a lot of jobs come his way since his win, he tells us winning wasn’t actually all that important to him at the time - he was more in it for the fun and fundraising.
“I just had a blast doing the Gay Top Model competition and meeting all the awesome guys and raising money for Friends For Life,” he said.
Being a realist however, Barke doesn’t think he would have been able to do what he has done if he had not won GTM. “I most likely would have not attempted talking or meeting any agencies, assuming that if I couldn't win a local competition, the rest of the city, country, and world wouldn't want me either.”
Despite all the travel and work he has been doing though, Barke tells us that there is a price to pay and for him it is in maintaining his “look”, something he quickly learned was the key to being a successful model.
“You have to always be clean, in shape, perfect skin, white teeth,” he explained. “I went to New York Fashion Week and that is when you have to be in tip-top shape. There are hundreds of guys trying to get that spot on the runway, so you have got to look the best. I didn't. So it was a learning experience for sure.”
He also found the pace a little tough during his time in New York, running to appointments all over the city while trying to keep himself looking good. “During New York Fashion Week you would have one casting on 5th Avenue and East 57th Street, and within 20 minutes you would have to be in Greenwich on the Lower West Side. Running in the heat, looking like a star, is very hard,” he laughed.
But whether it is maintaining his “look” or running all around Manhattan Island, Barke tells us he is having a great deal of fun traveling and meeting all kinds of different models from around the world. He admits the pay is pretty awesome, too.
With the fourth season of Gay Top Model about to launch, Barke has a single piece of advice for future contestants: “Don't compare yourself to others. Ever. You have your own unique look. Every agency, photographer and client have a "look" they want.”
And from what Barke tells us, maintaining that “look”, whatever it might be, is key to making it in the world of modelling. He should know.