Hurley: New role

London, June 26: Elizabeth Hurley, the actor and model, is to make her British television debut hosting a reality show in the cut-throat world of fashion.

Hurley, 40, will front Project Catwalk, a programme in which 12 unknown designers will battle it out for a career in the industry. The show, to be aired on Sky One next year, is based on the popular American Project Runway, hosted by Heidi Klum, the supermodel.

The format of the British spin-off will be identical to its American forerunner, which The New York Times recently described as “The Prada of reality television shows”.

The British contestants, who have already been chosen from a series of nationwide interviews, will be given a number of fashion-themed tasks.

A judging panel of established designers and journalists will draw up a shortlist of three through a process of elimination.

These three finalists will then be asked to showcase their designs on the catwalk during London Fashion Week in 2006. The winner will have their work featured in a glossy magazine and receive a cash prize to help to launch their own line.

In a parallel competition, 12 top catwalk models will fight it out to become the designers’ muses.

Hurley, who earns ?1.6 million a year as the face of the Est?e Lauder cosmetics company, said that she was delighted to be hosting the programme. “It is a brilliant and hugely entertaining format,” she said.