Amy Willerton: the Bond girl in waiting

Imagine we asked you to write down on a piece of paper the ultimate list of things that make the perfect Bond Girl. You’d probably include the following traits: an amazing figure; the ability to walk seductively out of the sea; an exotic or exceedingly British accent; adventurous; good at flying kicks.

It’s a list that also belongs on the CV of this month’s cover star, who’s currently in the process of exploding across the globe as one of Britain’s biggest exports since… well, Bond. So could Amy Willerton be just what the spy franchise needs when the Bond Girl for the next installment is cast? “That would be the dream,” she tells FHM. “Imagine being a 60-year-old woman that can turn around and say, ‘I was a Bond girl.’ I’d love that. If anyone from Pinewood Studios is reading this…”

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Write her off at your peril. Aged 21, Miss Willerton has already been crowned the sexiest women in the UK, world, and the known Universe. She appeared in the latest series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, managing to outdo Klass and Flanagan and take outdoor showering to the next level. Now she has Hollywood firmly within her reach as she’s set to add the acting string to her sexy bow.

It could all have been so different. After winning a reality talent show to become the next, erm, Katie Price, Amy decided that she wanted to tread a different path, and went her own way. She won Miss Universe Great Britain before being snapped up to appear on 2013’s I’m A Celebrity, on which she finished a respectable fifth. The first time we published a story about Amy on FHM. com, it received a record number of views, almost crashing our server. That’s not bad going at all, considering that before the show she was relatively unknown outside of the beauty queen scene. Unless you live in Asia, that is. “I used to get recognised in the middle of Asia quite a lot,” she tells FHM. “They’re really into the whole beauty pageant thing, so being Miss Great Britain was a huge deal. I’d be getting asked for my autograph in the middle of Thailand when people in Bristol didn’t even have a clue who I was, which was pretty surprising.” So who is the real Amy Willerton? “I’m just a normal, nerdy girl from Bristol that wanted to be a princess.”

When was the first time you realised you were famous?

Just after I’m A Celebrity. I went Christmas shopping and got completely mobbed. It started with one person asking for my picture and it snowballed. That’s the moment I realised my life had changed; when I had to do my Christmas shopping online.

That must be pretty intense…

Yeah but at the end of the day, I put myself on that pedestal. If I didn’t want the attention then I shouldn’t have gone on telly. I can’t really complain. It doesn’t take much of my time to be polite but it was a real shock to the system. Post-jungle, I hadn’t anticipated how much attention I’d get. I’d never even watched the show before.

What are people like with you?

They usually ask me how the jungle was, and then ask for a picture because their brother might like me. They never say it’s because they like me. It’s always for their brother.

What are the perks of fame?

I try not to accept anything just for the sake of it and I’m not much of a blagger, but I am getting a car built for me at the moment. It’s a Jeep Wrangler, customised just for me…

That’s miles better than the extra ketchup we managed to get in McDonald’s. Is it going to be all initialed headrests and bouncing hydraulics?

Oh God, no. I wish I was that cool.

We interviewed Vic Reeves once and he said I’m A Celebrity was really easy. Is that true?

It depends. I grew up camping every weekend so I love being in nature, but a lot of people in there had never done it. I wouldn’t say it was easy, though. You’re put in a lot of strange situations that are completely outside of your comfort zone.

When that was happening, did you regret signing up for it?

Slightly on the first day. I was lying in a box with a python on my face. It’s strange, but being able to say that I’ve lived like a caveman, slept outside and crawled through a pit of tarantulas makes me quite proud.

You like adventure then?

Absolutely, I love extreme sports – base jumping, shark diving, anything like that. I love a good challenge and stepping completely outside my comfort zone.

If we took you on a date, would you be up for bungee jumping?

That’d be amazing. If a guy said to me, “Let’s just fly somewhere and go on an adventure,” that would be a dream. Spontaneity is really attractive.

Are beauty pageants mental?

Surprisingly, it’s not at all catty or pushy. I never experienced any of that. In Miss Universe, all of the girls have already won a national title so you can’t have egos because you’re all on the same playing field.

What was your special beauty pageant talent?

For Miss World my talent was Makaton Sign Language, because my brother doesn’t speak so I sign with him all of the time. I thought it was something slightly different.

Aside from the Brits, which nationalities are the sexiest?

I love Italian women, they’re so naturally sexy. The more natural a woman is, the sexier she is.

Are you natural?

Absolutely. I’m just really normal, I’m not particularly cool and I’m a bit of a nerd. When I was at school I was a loner with braces and glasses. I’m not the supermodel type.

How are you nerdy?

I like Medieval things, like chopping people’s heads off. I’m a total history buff; I love the TV programme The Tudors. I can tell you absolutely anything about the 16th century. On weekends, I like to go to a museum; I don’t do shopping.

Are you a Game Of Thrones fan?

I’m absolutely obsessed with it, it’s incredible. I loved it when they… [Proceeds to completely spoil the most recent episodes of Game Of Thrones for FHM ].

In the Game Of Thrones world of Westeros, who would you be fighting for?

Definitely Khaleesi [played by Emilia Clarke]. I’d get down with the dragons. I have a huge crush on Emilia Clarke, she’s so fit. And Natalie Dormer, too. When I did the London Marathon, Natalie was next to me and I’ve fancied her since she was Anne Boleyn in The Tudors. It was pretty embarrassing.

How so?

I just went, “Holy crap, Natalie Dormer is stood next to me!” I turned around and went “Natalie, I love you!” and she knew who I was. I didn’t want to tell her but in my head I was like, “You have no idea how much I fancy you, I love you, I would marry you.”

We’re sure the feeling was mutual.

I hope it was, we’d make a fantastic couple and have lovely babies if we weren’t both straight. It’s good to still appreciate women though, and have a wife in your head.

Who was your biggest girl crush growing up?

Maybe Monica Bellucci or Gisele Bündchen. There’s a woman that I call my Wolf that I have a big crush on but I can’t reveal her. She’s a friend and she doesn’t know that I call her The Wolf, so that’s a secret.

Don’t worry, your secret is safe with thousands of FHM readers. What was it like being voted onto our 100 Sexiest list this year?

It was brilliant to be a part of such an iconic thing. When I was 18 I actually came into the FHM office to meet about the Girlfriend page. I remember saying, “This is really cool but I’d rather come back when you want me on the cover,” which is a little embarrassing, but now you’ve actually asked me.

After running a marathon you must be in pretty good shape. How fit are on a scale of one to 10?

I’m pretty fit. I’d probably say I’m a seven at the moment but I can get to a good nine and a half…

Are you very bendy?

My sister’s actually a contortionist, so it kind of runs in the family. I could get my leg around my head.

What’s your party trick?

I can do loads of impressions, you just need to give me somebody to do and I’ll develop it. Give me 24 hours. I’m a perfectionist, I like to perfect my craft and put the work in. [Head to fhm.com/ amytalks to see her skills in action].

You’re from Bristol. Do you know who Banksy really is?

Actually, one of my RE teachers said she was friends with him and that his first name is Rob.

How do we know you’re not lying… are you Banksy?

You’d never know…

What would you graffiti if we armed you with a spray can?

I’d probably just go to Henry VIII’s grave and scrawl ‘Anne Boleyn was murdered’ across it.

Your second love is skiing. Have you ever got naughty in the snow?

I went skiing where there was a hot tub in the middle of the mountains. Everyone stripped off and just jumped in, which was pretty fun.

What’s the best way to chat somebody up on a ski holiday?

For me, you’d have to be really fast because I’m quite hardcore. If you can’t keep up with me, I’m gone.

Amy’s guide to Instagram

Amy currently has 461,630 Instagram followers – and that number is rising every day. Follow her guide to social media and you can be a selfie-star in no time…

Be yourself “Post pictures that say something about you, whether it’s you singing in the shower or a picture of a doodle. Don’t just upload posts that are supposed to make you look cool because it gets boring really quickly.”

Get your angles right “It can make all the difference to the amount of likes you get. I tend to find that I get the most likes if I shoot from above.”

Be a self promoter “If nobody knows you’re posting photos then how will you get followers? Link your Instagram account to your Twitter and Facebook and use hashtags so as many people as possible can see your snaps.”

Be sparing with filters “Don’t go too filter-tastic with your pictures. I tend to stick with the pre-filters that come with my phone rather than overdoing it on the app so my pictures don’t look the same as everybody else’s.”

From the April 2015 issue of FHM India.