Sophie Sumner, the Oxford teenager who came runner up in this year’s Britain’s Next Top Model, is back home and preparing for another shot at fame.

The 19-year-old former Cherwell and Headington School pupil came second in the final of the Living TV reality show, having risen above thousands of initial entrants.

Miss Sumner, who worked at Kukui nightclub in Park End Street and Tootsies restaurant at Oxford Castle, said she was heading home to Oxford to see her friends and get back in shape at the gym before sending her portfolio to model agencies.

Filming for the series — which was won by Mecia Simone Simson — ended in February and Miss Sumner, from Kidlington, has had to keep the outcome secret from her friends. She said: “By the end of the show it was just a relief because you’re under so much pressure.

“When they announced Mecia’s name it was a relief then a wave of pure disappointment just hit me, but Mecia is amazing.

“I remember going into the final secretly thinking she would win — she has a great portfolio and if I was a judge I would have picked her.”

Since the final episode was shown last week, Miss Sumner, who became the national face of Faith shoes and Skinbliss shower gel during the show, has had a hectic time.

She said: “Tuesday morning I had a Skinbliss photocall in Soho Square in a shower cubicle.

“Then I went to Vivienne Westwood’s studios to get a dress for the Harry Potter premiere on Tuesday evening.

“I knew Emma (Watson, who plays Hermoine in the films) from Headington School so it was great to see her.

“But it was weird to be walking along and then spotting someone like Tim Burton.

“I don’t know how long these things will last, but it was so much fun.

“Unfortunately on Wednesday I had to go back to my day job at a restaurant in London and do a nine to five.”

Asked whether she would recommend the experience of Britain’s Next Top Model, she added: “I think you’ve got to be really tough and thick skinned.

“I had an amazing time, the best time of my life, but you are put under so much pressure and it’s equally a TV show as it is about modelling.”