Christy Turlington

Hi Christy - how are you?
I'm very well, thank you. I was expecting you hours ago.
Sorry! I was working up the nerve!
Okay - you're forgiven (laughs).
Is it true that you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last year?
Yeah, I did it last summer. It's just the best thing! I'd been wanting to do it for about eight years. I had a really good experience. I didn't get altitude sickness at all.
Well, being a supermodel, you're obviously used to scaling dizzying heights.
Quite (laughs). No it was wonderful. One person in our group had an experience that was, eh . . . otherwise. There was this guy and he just got really ill halfway up the mountain and he literally had to be carried down on the shoulders of the porters. If you get really bad mountain sickness it affects your brain and he was just really scary. He didn't know where he was or anything. You hear some really bad stories. I really shouldn't be laughing!
How long did it take to climb?
About six days up and one day down. But some people do it faster. There are about seven routes up the mountain and, of course, we didn't do the hardest, but we didn't do the easiest either. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I'm gonna do another mountain next year.
I understand you're an anti-smoking campaigner. Are you one of those people who objects to people smoking in your presence?
I'm actually not that bad, I don't even mind the smell of it. I know what it's like to be a smoker. I used to smoke and I quit several times but always went back on them. But my father died of lung cancer and I nursed him through his final months and if anything provided the inspiration to campaign against smoking and help people get off them, it was that. Because I've been addicted myself, I thought that maybe I could help people.
Are you the campaigning sort generally?
Well, I do a few things. I get asked to do so many things all the time that I can't give time to everything. I usually try to help out with things that I've got an interest in or some kind of experience of. I help raise funds for Camp Okizu - this special summer camp for kids with cancer in Northern California. I actually grew up in California and I've worked as a camp counsellor there. I was there for a few weeks and working with someone like an eight-year-old who's had cancer - it's just an incredible thing. I'm involved in a few other things as well. Generally, I like to go along and see things for myself and help out, not just put my name on some list or petition and feel that's enough.
Do you feel in any way obliged to do charity work because of the privileged life you have?
Em, I don't know . . . (pauses). In one way, yes, I suppose I do. I find that it's quite a purifying thing to do though. I think the Children of Chernobyl project is a great thing. I absolutely love children so I'd probably be doing things like that anyway, if I could.
Do you get recognised much on the street?
Sometimes. Generally I look quite different in real life though. You probably wouldn't recognise me without the make-up and the lights.
Do you still hang out with U2?
Yeah, we're really good friends. I've known them for about eight years now so I really consider them among my closest friends. I think I met them first and then my friend Naomi started going out with Adam so we all became really close. I know all the women behind the band as well - Ali and the women from Principle Management - so we see each other quite often. There's loads of children as well, whom I adore. They're incredible people, really good fun.
Does the image of models as bimbos annoy you much?
I live in it so I know the truth and I don't let it bother me. Like in anything, there are all sorts of people in my industry. But many of them come from art school backgrounds or design backgrounds or whatever. Many of them are very cultured and a lot smarter than people give them credit for.
Do you have any artistic ambitions beyond modelling?
Well, I do have dreams to write. That's my real goal. But it's not an easy thing. I'm really interested in travel writing and I did write about the Kilimanjaro trip but it was more of a diary kind of thing. But I do have ideas that I'm working on. I'd just like to progress my style a little bit further before I dared to try and publish anything more substantial.
Christy Turlington will be one of the supermodels taking part in the biggest charity fashion show ever held in Europe in The Point Theatre on Friday, February 11th. Hosted by Pat Kenny, the Brown Thomas International Fashion Show - in aid of the Chernobyl Children's Project, the ISPCC and the Marie Keating Cancer Awareness Fund - will also feature Naomi Campbell, Jerry Hall, Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon amongst others.