Jodie Kidd

Jodie Kidd
Born	(1978-09-25) 25 September 1978 Guildford, Surrey, England
Spouse(s)	Aidan Butler (2005–2007)
Modeling information
Height	186cm (6 feet 1.49 inches)[1]
Hair colour	Blonde
Eye colour	Blue/green
Measurements	33–24–35 (UK & US) 84–61–89 (EU)
Dress size	6 (US); 36 (EU); 8 (UK)
Manager	Merlin Elite

Jodie Kidd (born (1978-09-25)25 September 1978 in Guildford) is an English television personality and fashion model.

Early life

Jodie was a showjumper as a child and attended St Michael's School, Burton Park, Petworth, West Sussex.

Family

Jodie is the granddaughter from Hon. Janet Gladys Aitken's (1908–1988) third marriage (1942) to Major Thomas Dealtry Kidd. Jodie's mother, Wendy Madeleine Kidd (née Hodge), is the daughter of Sir John Rowland Hodge, 2nd Baronet and runs the Holders Festival on Barbados. Jodie's father is British businessman and former showjumper John Edward Aitken Kidd, a maternal grandson of the first Lord Beaverbrook.

Jodie has an elder sister, Jemma Kidd (b. 1974), who married Arthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, grandson of the Duke of Wellington, in June 2005. She has a brother, polo player Jack Kidd (b. 1973), who is married and has several children. She has a half brother, entrepreneur Nick D'arcy Whiting (b. 1962) who is married to former model Sandy Whiting (née Lanthois) and has two sons, Oliver D'arcy Elvis (b. 1992) and Michael Ayrton Clifford (b. 1994). She has a half sister, Debbie Parris (b. 1964), who has two daughters, Astral and Amber, and resides in Barbados.

Career

Modelling

Kidd was 15 when she was discovered by photographer Terry O'Neil on a beach in Barbados. Her modelling career began when he introduced her to model agent Laraine Ashton. When Kidd began modelling at 16 there was an uproar – accusations were made that promotion of her slender figure encouraged teenage girls to become anorexic when they tried to mimic her looks. Her skeletal figure led to accusations, because she is tall 188 cm (6'2") and at the time her weight was a mere 48 kg (105 lbs) and her BMI = 13.6 – so her first nickname was "the locust model".

Kidd has admitted to being “a bag of bones” in her early modelling career but has strongly denied that she was anorexic, blaming her skinny physique on a bout of glandular fever. Kidd modelled with the leading models from Capellino to Chanel, Ernesto Esposito to Fendissime, Gai Mattiolo to Ghost, Lagerfeld to Malhas, Monsoon to Motorola and also featured in campaigns for Chloé 'Innocence' perfume and Yves Saint Laurent. She also appeared on the cover of Elle magazine in Australia, Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden and the United States.

During an eight-month break in modelling, Kidd added weight to her tall and lanky frame, transforming it and becoming a healthy size eight. ^[2]

Kidd's many magazine covers include Elle in America, Portugal, Italy, Singapore and Sweden, British Vogue, The Face and Comme des Garçons.

Later work

Jodie Kidd, Flugtag London, 2008

Jodie Kidd, London 2008

In 1997, Kidd played the Lady of the Lake in Prince Valiant and in 1999 she took on a minor role in the British film Mad Cows.

In April 2000, Kidd's attempts to secure a lead role in the film Mission Impossible 2 were dashed because film producers considered her to be too tall. She commented, "Everyone has told me I would look completely ridiculous starring alongside Tom Cruise [at 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm)] because of my height. I have always dreamt of being an actress but agents have told me no one would cast me for a lead role because I am too tall."

In 2003, Kidd launched the Marie Curie Daffodil Campaign which was supported by Yellow Pages and founded to help people with cancer.

In 2003, Kidd appeared on They Think It's All Over, and despite being a guest she was asked to take part in the "Feel the Sportsman Round", along with Rory McGrath. Once she was blindfolded, her then boyfriend, polo player Tarquin Southwell, came out. Despite the blindfold, she managed to identify him by smell.

During 2004, Kidd presented the reality television show The Ultimate Playboy for Sky One. She was selected for the Maserati racing team, and co-founded Pret-a-Polo with Tarquin Southwell, her boyfriend at the time. Pret-a-Polo was a venture to marry-up polo, fashion and partying.

From 2004 to 2005, Kidd was the face of the high-street chain Monsoon.

In December 2005, her interest in motor racing took a more substantive turn when, with co-driver Fabio Babini, she took second place in the Trofeo Maserati race at the Bologna Motorshow.

Kidd has been seen as an occasional guest and reporter on GMTV and This Morning and as the host of two series of Jodie Kidd's Fashion Avenue for Discovery.

During 2006, she was a judge on the BBC Only Fools or Horses series which was held to benefit Sport Relief.

In early 2006, Kidd launched the new online DVLA car tax service. Later in the year, she presented The Ultimate Bikini Guide for Channel 4 with her sister Jemma Kidd.

Kidd completed a commercial for the high profile re-launch of the Marks and Spencer credit card and will shortly launch her own range of branded golf shoes.

Jodie was co-presenter with James Cracknell of the 2007 Red Bull Air Race World Series for Channel 4 in the UK. She was also seen, in 2006 and 2007, as part of the BBC's Royal Ascot presenting team, memorably in a double act with 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m), ex-jockey, Willie Carson.

In 2008, Kidd appeared on the BBC television programme Who Do You Think You Are? and managed to trace one line of her ancestry back to English Puritans who settled in Massachusetts nearly 20 years after the landing of the Mayflower. Her English ancestors helped found the New England cities of Rowley and Haverhill in Massachusetts. One direct ancestor she discovered was Moses Hazen, a Brigadier General, who fought in the American Revolution. The discovery was met with shock by Kidd who never knew any of her ancestors had left England for America and subsequently returned full circle.

She is an expert polo player and often plays for the Apes Hill Polo team in Barbados, where she lives.

She appeared on A Question of Sport on 21 December 2009. She has appeared as guest on 8 Out of 10 Cats.

She is currently appearing as the host on Cotswold Outdoor's new outdoor short video series; 'Fresh Air TV' soon to be released on the YouTube and the Cotswold Outdoor's own website.

She has also co-hosted as a stand-in the Capital Radio breakfast show in London on Capital Fm.

Kidd was announced as one of the sixteen celebrities participating in the sixth series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with professional Ian Waite. In the January/February 2009 Tour, Jodie danced a jive and an American smooth with Waite. She was eliminated in week ten.

Kidd made her first appearance in Dictionary Corner on Channel 4's Countdown on 11-13 and 16-17 September 2013.

Personal life

In September 2007, a Sunday newspaper printed allegations that she had supplied cocaine to an undercover reporter in a sting operation. She was dropped from an advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer and a number of broadcasting projects.^{[citation needed]}<>^[3]

Off the catwalk, Kidd's hobbies include polo, motor car racing, golf, and horse riding. She has also taken part in several rallies of the Gumball 3000. ^[4][5]

She drives a Maserati and is noted for completing the fastest Celebrity Lap on the Top Gear car show (Series 2 Episode 8 : 6 July 2003) and holding on to that position for some time.

Following a year-long romance and engagement, Kidd married Internet entrepreneur Aidan Butler on 10 September 2005 at St. Peter's Church, Twineham, West Sussex. The couple split up after 18 months of marriage. ^[6] On 4 July, Kidd completed a one mile (1.6 km) charity swim in London. She raised money for the children's charity Help A London Child.

In March 2011, announced she is pregnant with her first child, due in August 2011 with boyfriend Andrea Vianini.^[7] The couple welcomed a boy named Indio Vianini Kidd on 5 September 2011.^[8]

Filmography

References

External links

• Jodie Kidd at the Internet Movie Database
• Jodie Kidd at the Fashion Model Directory