Petra Nemcova Lives 'A Model Life'

The Supermodel Talks About Her New Reality Show and Surviving the Tsunami

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July 9 -- 'Sports Illustrated' cover girl Petra Nemcova might seem like an unlikely candidate to host a catfight-laden reality series about models, which is why such frivolity won't set the tone for her TLC series 'A Model Life,' which tracks six young models as they move to New York City and try to land a contract with the Next modeling agency.

The 28-year-old Czech beauty is as famous for her charity work and surviving the 2004 Asian tsunami (which killed her fiancé, photographer Simon Atlee) as she is her modeling work, and she'll bring those personal passions to her role as mentor to the 'Model Life' wanna-bes. It's not an easy business, as the aspiring Petras quickly learn when they're confronted with frank comments about their weight and their attitudes.

The founder of the Happy Hearts Fund children's charity chatted with AOL TV's Kimberly Potts about her hopes for the show and the lessons she learned after clinging to a palm tree for eight hours to make it out of the Thailand tsunami alive.

How is 'A Model Life' different from fashion-related reality shows like 'America's Next Top Model' and 'Project Runway'?
This show is about the reality of the fashion industry, and the reality of the lives of the models. There are no fake challenges. There is no panel of judges. What will make us different [is that] in each episode, there is a modeling lesson and a life lesson. I am there to guide them through modeling challenges, but also the life challenges. They are fashion models, but they are also human beings, so they go through tough times.

Are the models from America?
They are all really incredibly young, beautiful women, but all different, from six different countries, different backgrounds, different cultures. One comes from a farm, and another one is very talented and plays many musical instruments.

Since you're mentoring them in their careers and their lives, was it a goal to make sure their entire lives didn't become just about modeling?
Yes ... just by putting it out there that, you know, that we're all very lucky, and that we have to appreciate what we have. There are so many people in the world who don't have even the freedom of traveling, freedom of choice, freedom of speech. And even just reminding [the models] that if they go through challenges, there are people who go through even more challenges just to be able to survive every day. We have this incredibly young girl, a 14-year-old girl named Jessica, who was born in Russia without bones from her knees down. She was adopted by a family in the United States, and then she started swimming. Recently, she went to the Paralympics, and she went there saying, "I am going to win seven gold medals." And she came up with nine gold medals. It just shows how powerful our mind is. So, really, I just try to help the models put things in perspective.

The girl you're talking about, Jessica, is featured on the show?
Yes. She is in one of the episodes. And she is amazing. She inspired me so much. I have learned so much from her. She is 14, and her mind is so powerful. It's really amazing to see that.

What misconceptions about the industry do you hope 'A Model Life' might change?
That it's all about champagne and caviar. There's lot of hard work that has to go into it. I think that is the biggest misconception -- that it comes easy. It's really hard work. And you must be very determined and really work hard to become successful.

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