Alisa Bernardo was surprised when organisers of Top Model UK changed her outfit at the last minute during the competition finale.

It turned out that one of the designers, Lenie Boya, had taken a particular liking to her.

She wasn’t the only one.

Alisa beat out 170 other finalists for the Editorial Award. The couture piece, selected by one of the judges, was a firm hint of what was to come.

“I was almost expecting an award because I was wondering, why would she change it?” Alisa said.

The 15-year-old Warwick Academy student left Bermuda last month for rehearsals in London for the April 2 competition. She’s since been offered two three-month contracts in India, but turned them down.

Agents had a strong presence in the Top Model audience; British magazine Fab UK will showcase the winners in their next issue, on a limited-edition cover.

“The exposure I’ve been getting is incredible,” Alisa said. “It’s really unpredictable.

“I could get a call tomorrow for a contract offer. I’m just hoping to continue to expand my work internationally. I’d like to travel.”

She’s grateful for the help she got from her agent, Diane Whittaker-Maughan.

She started modelling herself at age 16 and secured her last job only four years back, for the US department store Saks Fifth Avenue.

In 1968 she launched her training career and claims Bermuda’s Miss World, Gina Swainson, as one of her girls. She says Alisa is her final protégé.

Married last year, she plans to focus her energies on her new husband and a blossoming textile project/business.

“Alisa has been such a good student, she is passionate and I am very proud of her,” she said. “She is a credit to Bermuda.”

The teenager plans to focus on editorial work.

At 5’7” she falls just shy of the height expected of European runways in Milan and Paris but with some growing years left, she remains hopeful.

Alisa was unable to attend Top Model’s London auditions, but she secured a place via e-mail, despite the show’s more than 4,000 applications.

She was one of the youngest candidates.

“It was a huge accomplishment,” she said. “I felt like the baby of them all, but everyone took care of me. I made a few really good friends that I’ll stay in touch with.

A lot of them were professional models who were more experienced than I am, so it was really good to be able to hear about their experiences and learn from them as well.”

Lusso provided much of her wardrobe. Alisa shot a campaign for the Front-Street store with photographer, Alex Masters.

“They’ve been really generous to sponsor me with clothes for the competition — this beautiful Ted Baker gown that I wore to the afterparty and a leather skirt and boots.”

She said confidence was her biggest takeaway.

“You really can’t model without being confident. It shows on stage so you kind of have to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. I’m quite a shy person naturally but when I’m on stage I just forget about it and do what I’m there to do. Diane’s coaching has really helped me. I don’t think without her I would have been nearly as confident as I was in the show.

“The only time I felt nervous was actually my first walk, because the quick changes were insane.

“Everyone was running around; it was very chaotic. I wasn’t dressed yet and I was wearing a dress that had already been worn by another model. They had to strip her and get that dress on me.

“I wasn’t ready to go out yet and suddenly the garment was on me and they pushed me on stage. I had to quickly pull myself together and go for it.

That “hurry up and wait” mentality was a constant.

“You have to act very fast in modelling,” she said. “Every walk our hair and make-up changed. As soon as we got offstage, we had to run, sit down and they’d be redoing our hair in ten minutes. It was amazing how fast it could be done.”

Her mother, Lisa Bernardo said: “My husband and I and my family were amazed because, though she was one of the youngest ones, the others looked so nervous in their walks. But that’s my daughter — she just looked like she was meant to do it. Just so confident.

“I was crying. I didn’t know what to expect. It’s only the past year that she’s got into this, but I didn’t expect anything like this. It was so professional — and to see her out there just doing so well.”

Alisa’s advice to anyone trying to summon up the same confidence is “be yourself”.

“At the end of the day nobody can change you so that’s what you have to embrace,” she said.