Fresh off the London catwalk, 'Canada's Next Top Model' Meaghan Waller is back home walking the runway at LG Fashion Week in Toronto.
"It feels amazing. It's really nice to be back in Canada, walking on my own turf," says Waller, backstage between shows. "It's my first Toronto Fashion Week so I'm really excited."
Since winning Cycle 3 of 'CNTM' in July, Waller has been busy meeting top agents through Elmer Olsen's Bootcamp 2 Bigtime and doing shoots for FASHION Magazine and Capezio shoes. She's also made her international debut and just returned from a six-week stay in the U.K., where she walked for London Fashion Week.
"At first I was terrified. I'm a little Winnipeg girl. I've never taken the subway before. It was a little bit hectic but I figured it out and it was a lot of fun," says Waller, who just celebrated her 20th birthday.
Although she shared a house with a number of girls she didn't know during 'CNTM,' doing it in another country was a whole other story.
"I was living in a house with 15 other girls and one bathroom. It was worse than Top Model," she says with a laugh. "I was the only one who spoke any English."
And even though being away from home for that long with limited Internet made it a bit difficult at times, Waller says the whole experience was very rewarding and she made a lot of friends. Not to mention the fabulous British fashions.
"(The clothes) were all beautiful - very cutting edge and a lot of fun to wear."
But she's happy to be back in Canada where there are plenty of familiar faces in the audience - including 'CNTM' judge and FashionTelevision host Jeanne Beker.
"I saw her at the end of the runway and I just heard her yelling, 'Oh my God, it's Meaghan! It's Canada's Next Top Model!' and it made me so terrified but excited at the same time," says Waller.
Walking for the likes of Jason Meyers, David Dixon, Pink Tartan and Nada this week has made her experience at Fashion Week quite different than the last time she was at Toronto's bi-annual event. Last spring, she and the other 'CNTM' finalists faced tough questions from etalk's Lainey Lui and MuchMusic's Trevor Boris to see how well they handled the spotlight.
"It's cool because on (CNTM) we watched the David Dixon show and now I'm walking in it," says Waller with a smile.
Once the flurry of Fashion Week wraps up, Waller hopes to return home to visit her family out west before she's off to her next job, which may once again take her abroad.
"I've come to realize that like on the show, everything is very last minute and you don't know anything until it happens."
