Getting to know Keely Thurecht
Introducing Brisbane-based model Keely Thurecht. We talk to her about animal welfare, Sex and the City, downward dog and kinda-resembling Iggy Azalea:
I am a blonde. Some of the things I do reach a new level of stupidity. Most of the time I look back and wonder what the hell I was thinking. My brother even calls me “The Destroyer”. For example, I’ve so far ruined two laptops and five phones by spilling water on them. You would have thought I’d learn my lesson but, much to parents’ despair, apparently not.
Modelling is my opportunity to escape myself and become someone else. For me I take on a different persona for every shoot. I remember my mum saying when I first started how shocked she was that her little girl who was a little shy in everyday life oozed so much confidence in front of the camera.
Aside from modelling I’m a yogi at heart. My best days are those I begin with sun salutations and downward dog.
Home is Brisbane, Australia. My heart and soul love living in the sunshine state. My skin, not so much. Inherited from my Scottish grandmother, it struggles to maintain its porcelain colour if I spend more than 10 minutes in direct sunlight. More often than not I come away looking like a tomato. So I shadow tan. If my bronzer friends want to lay out in the sun we’ll look for a spot under a tree so I can lay in the shade while they lay in the sun next to me.
I spend too much time watching Sex and the City reruns and baking delicious little treats. I live my life by Carrie Bradshaw quotes. My favourite is, “I like my money where I can see it, hanging in my wardrobe”. If I ever put on an outfit and wonder if it’s too wacky I just channel Carrie and tell myself I’m fabulous. As for the excessive amount of time I spend baking. Let’s just say I’m lucky the rest of my family loves to eat as much as I do or I would probably be the size of a house from polishing it all off myself. At the moment my go to ingredients are coconut, dates, cacao powder, and peanuts. I’m known for my raw brownies and lemon coconut bars.
I’m currently listening to Iggy Azalea. I feel a certain kinship with that girl, maybe it’s because people say I look a little like her, maybe it’s her fearlessness when it comes to saying it how it is, or maybe it’s her dress sense.
In my opinion she is the ultimate woman. I’ve pre-ordered her album The New Classic and I’m counting down the days until it officially comes out.
It might surprise people to learn that I am really passionate about animal welfare. Growing up I ate the usual BLTs washed down with a glass of milk and followed by ice cream, but a few years ago I began to change. I realised that I didn’t want the purpose of another Earthling’s life to be to sustain mine. From there I went vegan and haven’t looked back.
My love for animals extends beyond not wanting to eat them. I have a shaggy rug for a Labradoodle girl puppy named Frankie and two Burmese cats, Louis and Abby.
In the future, when I’m a fat grandma I’ll pull out my portfolio to show the grandkids. That’s my main motivation for pursuing the model life. I want to prove to the kids of the future that I wasn’t always saggy and chubby.
Keely Thurecht is represented by Vivien’s Models in Brisbane.
Keep up with everything Keely has got going on by following her Facebook page and Instagram.
Interview by Bobby Townsend
