Get Gorgeous 2 winner Priyanka Shah; (below) last year’s face Archana Vijaya

Chrysalis to butterfly. Girl next door to next supermodel? call it what you will. The second edition of Channel [V]?s Get Gorgeous transformed another ordinary young girl into a beauty queen.

This year?s winner, unveiled in the final episode of Get Gorgeous 2 on Saturday, is a 21-year-old engineering student from Pune, Priyanka Shah. ?I come from an academic background and modelling was an unlikely career choice,? shares Priyanka. The student of MIT Women?s Engineering College had not watched the contest in its first year and knew little about it when she took the plunge.

?I had done the odd fashion show in the college circuit but it wasn?t anything serious. My friends forced me to go for the auditions.? Her frank answers at the auditions, she feels, helped her make the first shortlist. ?They asked me if given a chance I would choose modelling or engineering. I chose engineering.?

A panel of judges, comprising models Milind Soman, Noyonika Chatterjee and designer Hemant Trevedi, travelled six cities and sifted through 5,000 entries before selecting Priyanka as one of the 16 finalists. They were then flown to Sri Lanka for a grooming session and lots of fashion shoots.

?I was clearly the odd one out among the contestants when we left for Sri Lanka,? Priyanka laughs. The national Netball girls? team-member also felt she was ?more athletic? and needed to tone down to ?look a little delicate?.

A public scolding by the grooming experts took her closer to achieving that. ?It was embarrassing but it helped me concentrate and work hard on reducing weight and inches.?

Her dedication is the first thing that both Archana Vijaya ? last year?s winner and this year?s show host ? and Channel [V] head Amar K. Deb mention while discussing Priyanka. ?The way she got into shape within that short time was very dramatic,? offers Deb. ?She was running miles in the morning and working out for hours during the day,? recalls Archana.

The highlight of the contest was, of course, the ramp-walk at the Lakme India Fashion Week that found the girls matching steps with the best models. ?It usually takes an aspirant two to six years to get up there. And they were just freshers,? says Deb. More screening rounds followed till Priyanka was finally crowned the winner. ?It felt great but I didn?t have much time to think about it as I had to rush back for my exams,? she admits.

Up ahead is a one-year contract with Channel [V] and Elite Model Management as well as campaigns for LG. Despite having a year of her engineering course left, the Gujarati girl says her parents wouldn?t mind if she took up modelling as a career.

?They know I will always maintain my values. Besides, I?ve been managing sports and studies for so long. It?ll be modelling and studies now.?