STRUTTING THEIR STUFF

A few years ago, they were typical teenagers who went to school, studied, worked out, slept, slept, then slept some more. Today, Marjorie "2tay" Maristela and Vallerie "Erie" Matic aren’t just typical youngsters anymore. They’re young…and they’re supermodels.

These two currently hold the title for the MTV Fashionista Best Model of the World Award. Amateurs in the modeling industry, they have found the experience pretty shocking so far. 2tay and Erie are now saddled with everyday shoots, castings, interviews, and all else that comes with being "super" models. This includes meeting a lot of celebrities and constantly being in the limelight.

This change of lifestyle was both sudden and unexpected. 2tay wanted to be a lawyer while Erie, a doctor. In 1999, 2tay had just graduated from high school and was convinced by her sister to join the modeling search, Super Model of the World Philippines. Out of 103 contestants, 2tay made it to the top eight. She was contracted by an international modeling agency, did a couple of castings, then was entered in the MTV Best Model of the World search by Cal Carrie’s top gun Joey Espino.

Today, 2tay is balancing her modeling career with her college education at U.P. Diliman, where she is taking up A.B. Interdisciplinary Studies and Humanities. Her dream of becoming a lawyer has been slightly modified. "I wanna be a lawyer who can still model," she laughs.

As for Erie, people always told him he had the height to model, but he never took them seriously until he joined Body Shots in 2000. He gave it a try. He was set to win and declared it his "comeback."

With the new title and all the hype, 2tay and Erie still need to get used to all the attention, but are not complaining. if there’s anything, they are a bit disappointed with how some people treat them just because there’s an added title to their name. 2tay claims, "People say you’re maarte and a snob without even knowing you." But 2tay and Erie nevertheless enjoying the fame. They are excited and are determined to continue modeling for quite a while.

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