Sophie Falkiner

Having grown up watching Wheel of Fortune, Sophie never thought she would one day spin the letters on the show. Wheel of Fortune was a three year chapter in Sophie's short, albeit busy media career, which has taken her from a university lecture hall, to full-time modelling, to a newsroom researcher, and finally, appearing on prime-time television on one of Australia's most successful lifestyle programmes, The Great Outdoors.

To look at Sophie Falkiner, you'd say Sophie Falkner had won the jackpot: blue eyes, blonde hair and a perfect size eight figure. But looks can be deceiving - as a teenager, Sophie battled scoliosis.

Sophie was in Year 8 when she was diagnosed the debilitating condition. At 14, she had to wear a back brace for two years, but her condition didn't improve and she had surgery at 21. 'They sawed out a rib, took out my lung, put some nuts and bolts in my spine and popped my lung back in,' she recalls. 'I was minus a rib for a while but it grew back eventually!'
Sport was out, trips to the beach were embarrassing and group dates would sometimes involve a quick wardrobe change. As well as fixing her back, the surgery had another positive effect on Sophie's life. 'I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life at 21,' she says. 'But sitting on my backside in hospital, I realised I wanted to go back to uni. It was a wake-up call that life is precious.'

Sophie has just completed an extensive national advertising campaign as the face of Neutrogena. Sophie has also been the Australian face of Wonderbra.