Danielle Lloyd's Column

14th November 2006

Playboy, Miss Great Britain and Family

I have had a really hectic and nerve wrecking week! And all of last week I was preparing for Playboy being on the shelves on Friday! It still seems completely surreal. At least I know that Teddy, my family and close friends support me 100% which does put my mind at ease but it has all caused such a stir over the last few weeks.

Early in the week, I did what was one of my favourite shoots ever with a James Bond theme at a lovely hotel in Notting Hill. I always fancied myself as a bit of a Bond girl! I was completely exhausted at the end of it though. Despite what people think, modelling is quite hard work and requires a lot of patience as well as concentration! I’m so looking forward to the Casino Royale premiere, Lipsy have made a lovely new dress and of course my friends at Boodles have promised me jewellery to match!

I have been involved in supporting the charity DebRA UK which is the national charity working on behalf of people with the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). I try to support them in whatever ways I can, sometimes that’s fundraising and sometimes it’s privately. I adore children and as this charity in particular is very close to my heart, when I was asked if I would drop into Great Ormond Street Hospital to meet a lovely little ten year old boy called Ryan by the charity, I was only too happy. I heard that he is a football fan so I also took a signed photo of Teddy with me and I hope that it cheered him up a bit and helped him forget, even for a short time about the discomfort that he is in. EB means that Ryan is always in and out of hospital and has to be wrapped in thick bandages to protect his skin. He is so brave and such a lovely and happy boy, we had a good talk about X factor and football. Debra’s website is www.debra.org.uk so please check it out and find out more about this wonderful organisation and how you may be able to help. You can even buy your Christmas cards from there!

I decided to be organised this year and start my Christmas shopping early. I ended up going to Selfridges as they sell some great things there and best of all its all under one roof! I was also looking for some inspiration as I have no idea what to get Teddy! It is always so hard to buy for him as he already has everything!! I have just been signed up exclusively to promote a fantastic luxury skincare range called Kimia which was developed by a very rock and roll friend of mine who is an amazing business woman. It launched very soon so when it hits the shelves I’ll let you know and its really is a brilliant range.

On Friday I headed back to Liverpool to see my family and to go to a fundraising event for Zoë’s Place baby hospice in Liverpool. My uncle often organises fundraisers for them. These hospices need all the help they can get as they don’t receive government funding and the service they provide is just so important to the family of the children who stay there. It can be so heart breaking to see these tiny little babies suffer. They are so helpless; I cannot imagine what the parents must be going through. It just does not seem fair.

Recently my family have seen more of me in the papers than face to face and its really put them through the mill. My mum has been a little hurt by some of the things that have been written about me in the press so I wanted to cheer her up. We spent some quality time together and had a quiet lunch on Saturday, and went shopping of course! In the evening I went to the News Bar with some friends and my cousin Jodie who is hilarious, her boyfriend is a champion cage fighter so no one was likely to cause us any hassel that night! On Sunday I had lunch at Mum and Dads again, Mum cooked for ten of us as my aunt and cousin are over from Australia and it was also lovely to catch up with my brother Matthew too, after that I saw my Nan and Grandad – we didn’t talk about Playboy though!

Sunday afternoon I drove back down to London to see my friend Leanndra. She is lovely and a real party animal. It was therefore no surprise that we ended up going to ‘Faces’ nightclub in Gants Hill, we both drove though so were on the fruit drinks all evening but had a dance and saw a few friends! It was really funny as we left and walked to our car because so many people there know Teddy, they decided to sing “Oh Teddy Teddy – Teddy Sheringham’s bird”. Ted’s been living in that area for all his life so he’s a bit of a legend in Faces – or so I’m told anyway!

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