entertainment world.

But those few moments with Bill Cosby were to transform dramatically the life of Sonya Cole.

For Cosby listened carefully as the starry-eyed young woman poured out her dreams of becoming a Queen of the catwalk.

And within weeks she was in Paris, on the launch-pad to a life of glamour and riches as an international model.

Memories of the meeting nearly nine years ago still glow brightly for Sonya, and her Bermudian mom Mrs. Denise Guzman.

And with Cosby's arrival scheduled for this weekend, the recollection has an added lustre.

The super rich star will perform at a five-course black-tie banquet at Southampton Princess on Saturday.

Mrs. Guzman, of Winton Hill Lane, Bailey's Bay, is fiercely proud of her daughter's achievements.

"Sonya has done very well -- modelling all over the world,'' she said.

She knows, however, it may not have been possible without Cosby.

Sonya -- now just turned 30 -- met Cosby while a hostess at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Her job involved dolling herself up as Cleopatra -- her costume featured a huge, gaudily coloured headdress -- and handing medals to the big money winners.

But inside her burned another ambition -- to become an international model.

And so with Cosby headlining at her workplace, she grabbed the opportunity.

"I knew he had a reputation for helping young blacks, and so I went to meet him in his dressing room,'' she told The Royal Gazette from her Paris apartment.

"I told him I wanted to be a model, and he obviously saw potential in me because he said he would see what he could do.

"Ever since I was a baby I wanted to be a model, and I had been saving money.

"I knew what I wanted to do and nothing was going to stop me, but I was really lucky to meet Cosby. He started me off.'' Cosby told her he knew of an agency in New York, and gave her the phone number.

Unable to call that evening, she rang the next morning.

"When I got through, the agency said Cosby had already called and told them all about me!'' Within two weeks, Illinois-born Sonya, whose father is Puerto Rican, had packed up her Las Vegas job and jetted off to Paris.

"As soon as I got there I was working like crazy,'' she said, remembering the nerve-tingling moments of her fledgling career. Entering the French fashion scene without speaking the language could have caused a few problems.

Fortunately, however, she made enough English-speaking friends to coax her through those early days.

"It's a very hard business to be in, and you have to be very committed.

"I know girls who leave it very quickly. They don't have the mind for it.

You've got to be very strong.

"You have also got to be prepared to take a lot of rejections.'' She added: "There is the chance to socialise a lot, and go out to parties.

"I'm still keen on parties, but I prefer a nice, quiet dinner than going out to some crowded place.'' Sonya has strutted the catwalk across the globe for eight years now, Paris, London, Tokyo, Milan, are just a few of the major cities she has visited.

Before whirring television cameras, and bustling -- and occasionally screaming -- photographers she has flashed jewellery and shown off dazzling clothes.

She has modelled for such famous fashion houses as Dior, Ungaro, Givenchy, Emmanuel, and Yves St. Laurent.

And she has regularly graced the pages of top magazines like Ebony, and been spotted by family and friends on CNN's fashion shows.

It has certainly been a whirlwind life of strutting, posing, charming and smiling. But it has also reaped rich rewards for Sonya.

She has homes in Paris and New York, and also bought her mother a condominium in Bermuda.

Sonya knows, however, she will soon bow out of modelling.

"I've been eight years at the top, and I want to bring up a family,'' she explained. "I see Paris as my home, and I will probably settle with my boyfriend in Bordeaux.'' When she does put those much-used feet up, among the memories will be the one of meeting Cosby.

And does she have any message for the star when he comes to Bermuda? "I would just like to say thank you,'' she replied.

INTERNATIONAL MODEL -- Sonya Cole, daughter of Bermudian Mrs. Denise Guzman, is successful model after meeting Bill Cosby eight years ago. GLAMOUROUS -- The late comedian Red Skelton, was just one of many celebrities international model Sonya Cole met while working as a hostess at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Sonya, through the help of actor/comedian Bill Cosby, launched a successful modelling career.