IN person, celebrities are invariably shorter than their public image would suggest. But that's certainly not the case with supermodel Eva Herzigova, who in photographs often gives an impression of appealing daintiness. In fact, she's a daunting six feet tall, with a frame built to match (her foot size, whisper this, is eight and a half).
She may walk exceptionally tall, but off the catwalk her manner is shy and subdued. Like the Princess of Wales, she tends to keep her head lowered and then cast her eyes upwards in a doe like fashion. There's none of the brazenness which might be presumed from the Wonderbra advertisements which made Eva Herzigova one of the best known faces (and figures) on the European modelling scene.
Now she seems almost embarrassed by the furore that campaign caused and is inclined to play down the whole business as much as possible. Obviously, she agrees, a series of high profile billboard notices did wonders for her career, but in the United States where she now spends a lot of time "it made far less of an impact".
"The States is much tougher than in Europe," she says. "It's more about image and power and you have to be on the covers of magazines before they'll use you. It's all about money and they're less creative in their approach."
Until now, that all important cover has proved elusive, but Eva Herzigova has still done impressively well since she first began modelling six years ago at the age of 17. Originally from a small Czech village called Litvinov ("it's the mountains, quite close to the German border") she was walking along the streets of Prague when approached by a French agency organising a beauty contest in the city. Chosen from 400 other entrants in the competition, she was then invited to Paris. "It was hard to leave. I was very young and the country was still communist then. It took me six months to get a visa."
Moving to France was, therefore, a major event. "At home, my parents had always been very strict. My father always wanted to know when I would be coming home. So I was very happy at the beginning in Paris to go out and explore my youth. The first money I made, I took holidays in St Tropez." It wasn't all fun, however, because when she first left Czechoslovakia, "I didn't speak any English or French." Now she can converse in both those languages, as well as Czech and Russian "and I've a little Spanish, Italian and German".
Having focused for several years on the European market, she then turned her attentions to the potentially more lucrative American market. Last May's trans Atlantic edition of Vogue carried a major swimsuit editorial with her, photographed by Bruce Weber, which was a important step towards realising her magazine cover ambition. And there have also been spreads in Marie Claire and a new advertising campaign for Louis Vuitton. Like many others in her profession, she's currently planning to bring out her own exercise video. "It'll have advice about eating, a little bit of exercise too but mainly about how a woman should be comfortable with herself without changing too much." Having already been profiled in the magazine Top Model, like Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Karen Mulder, she is to be featured in an hour long video biography. Last year, following the example of many other models, she made her acting debut, in, a film called Guardian Angels which starred Gerard Depardieu.
NO wonder she says of her work, "I'll continue as long as they want me. You know, I love this business but there'll be a time when I get married and have my own family." That time is fast approaching because later this summer, she's due to formalise the relationship with her boyfriend of the past two years Tico Torres, drummer with Bon Jovi. Twenty years her senior (and several inches shorter than she is) Torres "is wonderful I love him very much." The couple spend as much time as possible together in New Jersey, but since May Bon Jovi has been on tour in Europe "so I'm trying to get as many assignments there as possible." Last Friday, they were both in London, together with the other members of the band, for the opening of an exhibition of paintings by Torres and she will be in Dublin for next weekend's concert at the RDS. When exactly they're due to get married, she prefers not to divulge "we don't want the whole world to show up" but it will certainly have to wait until the current tour is over, so a late August date seems most likely. Then it'll be back on the road for her with the international collections beginning in late September. "I don't mind," she insists when the subject of endless travel comes up. "I just think I'm very lucky."