It not surprising then that he got the nod as Guyana’s top male model, but before the swooning starts he is still pretty young, which means, theoretically, he is off limits for some women.
The fascination with him continues when he smiles and though it was not counted among the reasons why he won, when he flashes a smile it could easily break a heart or two. Flashback to the night of July 11, when he was a competitor among an ambitious lot of hopefuls strutting their stuff on the runaway for bragging rights as top male and female model – Jermaine was smiling an awful lot but from the standpoint of the audience at large he was a long shot.
Jermaine told The Scene in an interview on Thursday that he was opposed to entering Guyana Model Search and when he did, he was not even serious. The competition dragged on for a while and to his surprise he managed to survive a few eliminations. Then it happened. He was kicked off for lacking “something more” according to the judges and that was when it hit him.
“I knew how badly I wanted it then and I was willing to work for it, but I was kicked off. That just made me realize that not being serious resulted in my elimination,” Jermaine said. Somehow, and he still has no idea why but he is grateful, he was back on the show thanks to a recall segment. From that moment on, the young man from Linden who had no interest in “this modelling thing” was suddenly hungry and he went back and simply ate his competitors up.
Since Guyana Model Search is an ongoing competition where points are accumulated and tallied to pick a winner Jermaine knew what a second shot meant and he took it and made it count. He recalled sleepless nights and days of going over the training in his head “all the time.
“I spent so much time going over what I learnt and doing my homework – because even models have to study their craft. I was focused and I kept that throughout. It was like a full-time job and I worked the required hours and a whole lot of overtime,” Jermaine said before breaking into laughter during the telephone interview.
And he certainly meant business. He went back and a few days later easily won the photo shoot competition. Jermaine recalled playing up to the camera and flashing that smile. He said too that his attitude became fiercer and without him even noticing it initially, he developed his own style as model – a style the judges fell in love with and audiences started connecting with. He kept his game face on and later placed in the top three of the advertisement challenge.
But even with all the success, Jermaine was nervous. He said everyday was different and came with challenges which meant that he was forced to keep “bringing my style” and finding new ways to introduce “Jermaine Victor, the model” to the public. In the end the public embraced him, the judges loved him and he won the competition — all this for a young man who never had an interest in modelling prior to Guyana Model Search.
“I remember when they came to Linden and held auditions. Honestly, I told my friend who encouraged me to go not to waste my time then all of a sudden this thing seemed interesting and I wanted in. That is the story of how it all happened,” Jermaine recalled.
Jermaine admitted that he has a background in the performing arts. He is a member of Classique Dance Company and is a regular feature in theatrical performances in Linden. This background, he said, helped with the modelling. But he rates the advice he got from his friends, particularly those at Classique, above everything he carried with him to the competition.
Throughout the competition he recalled high moments and those really “down in the dumps” ones when he would sit down and get emotional with his close friend and fellow model search competitor, Yolanda Kerr. As it turns out, Yolanda landed the top female spot. He said they both had low moments in the competition when tears would be shed.
On the night of the competition he recalled that names were being thrown around as to who would have won and his name “as usual” was always quoted last. But he remained his confident self and kept doing his thing and flaunting his style, and when he was left standing alone the emotions hit him. “I jumped, broke into a dance, smiled a lot, laughed…,” he recalled.
Jermaine, at age 20, feels that his life only just got interesting. He is currently taking classes to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, after putting a freeze on plans to pursue a career in computer science. Jermaine said he is at a point in his life where “everything seems attainable”. He said Guyana Model Search opened doors that were there but he never looked “in that direction”.
He credits Sonia Noel who created the model search with offering him an opportunity to explore modelling and also for “putting me through so much in one competition”. He has plans to finish his studies and work for a short period of time before leaving the country to pursue his interest in modelling.
