Australia's Next Top Model judge Charlotte Dawson has come out in defence of "bogan" contestant Cassi Van Den Dungen, claiming much of the venom directed at the 16-year-old is class-based.
The New Zealand-born TV personality contrasted the media campaign against the bourbon-drinking teen with last year's winner Demelza Reveley, who was implicated as the ringleader of a bullying campaign against fellow contestant Alamela Rowan.
"Demelza was largely unlikeable but her bullying was tolerated because she was from a position of privilege: she was well-spoken and obviously had a good upbringing," Dawson told ninemsn.
"But Cassi is what I call a 'boganista' and I think she's suffering a form of snobbery for coming from the wrong side of the tracks.
"She's quite naive and she's saying stuff that she could regret in a few years … but it's nothing like what Demelza was doing."
Van Den Dungen attracted scorn for boasting of her lower-class lifestyle after reports emerged that she had been referred to anger management classes for punching a wall in the ANTM house.
The story developed with comments from her mother, Maree Rochester, who defended her daughter's decision to accept a marriage proposal from a 25-year-old tradesman.
"In my generation we moved out of home at 16 or 17 and it wasn't a bad thing," Ms Rochester was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
"When push comes to shove the age difference is just a psychological thing."
But Dawson warned that the aspiring model was young enough to be given special consideration.
"The very important thing to remember is that we're talking about a 16-year-old girl," she said.
"You look at the Telegraph's story and there are over 30 of the most hateful, ignorant comments from people who've never seen the show or Cassi.
"They really should wait until at least the first episode.
"Of course, Cassi's very new to this game and I think she needs to stop mouthing off to the media.
"But I really like Cassi: she really doesn’t care about fashion and she gets around in hoodies and tracksuits but she always delivers amazing images."
The fifth edition of Australia's Next Top Model premieres on Fox 8 next Tuesday.
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