As you know, Naomi Campbell is due to appear as a mentor on the UK version of The Face and we can.not.wait to see her back on our telly screens. The superdupermodel is also heading Down Under to take her place on the Australia version of the show and let's not forget she's due to start filming Season 2 of The Face US in New York later this month. Yes, this is one globally in-demand lady.
Today, however, rumours have surfaced suggesting all was not happy families on the set of the US version. The* New York Post* reports that Coco Rocha will not be returning to the second series of the reality-competition because her 'polite, hardworking persona clashed with Campbell’s diva-like behaviour', which allegedly caused bickering between the two. Yikes. Two new mentors - replacing Coco and fellow mentor Karolina Kurkova - will be announced later this afternoon.
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However, a source from* The Face* tells us that Coco was actually never meant to return to show. In fact, she had never been asked to renew her contract. 'To say that she is leaving on her own accord is inaccurate, she was never asked to return,' the source exclusively tells us. 'This is obviously her trying to spin the story to reflect well on her, and not so well on The Face in advance of the two new mentors being announced.'
The Face team had apparently always intended to have two new mentors each season, going bigger and better each time. They were considering keeping Karolina Kurkova, because she was a joy to work with, but she had another schedule clash, which* The Face* team were aware of and were sad to see her go. Coco, on the other hand, had her card marked from day one due to her apparent demands on set.
'Coco was very difficult to work with and incredibly manipulative,' the source continues. 'The list of restrictions, the hand-holding and her disrespect for the other mentors and their models made the entire filming process tough. That's why she hated Naomi, because Naomi wouldn't put up with that behaviour and called her on it. Thankfully the rest of production team and talent were wonderful, so it was just a case of one bad apple.'
Uh oh, there'll be less fashion friction once the two new mentors are announced. Stay tuned!