Kiwi broadcasting board dismisses topless mudbath shots as inoffensive

WELLINGTON - A complaint about models on New Zealand’s Next Top Model posing topless in a mud pool has been dismissed by the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) as being non-sexual and inoffensive.

An episode of the reality television show, which was broadcast on TV3 in August, included shots of contestants posing for a female photographer, wearing bikini bottoms and accessories.

Some of the girls were topless but their breasts were covered in mud and concealed by steam from the pool.

A viewer complained about the episode, saying she was “disgusted and disappointed to see a 16-year-old girl being exploited”.

The BSA ruled the nudity was effectively masked by the mud and did not breach standards of good taste and decency.

“No attention was drawn to her breasts; the transition between shots was relatively swift, and the camera tended to focus on the girl’s face,” Stuff.co.nz quoted the board as saying.

“We consider that the poses were non-sexual and were presented in an inoffensive way,” it stated.

Broadcaster TVWorks said the contestants’ comfort and well-being was taken very seriously.

“They have female chaperones with them 24 hours a day, their stylist on this particular occasion was a woman, as was the photographer. The models are free at any time to opt out of any situation with which they feel uncomfortable, so far this has not been the case,” it added. (ANI)