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They’ve shared the fashion limelight from New York to Paris but Australian model Jessica Gomes says she doesn’t expect to see her close friend Gemma Ward back on the modelling circuit for some time. “Gemma is taking a break away from modelling after Heath (Ledger) passed away,” Gomes said.

It is more than a year since the actor’s death yet Ward’s grief shows no sign of lifting.

Gomes and Ward, both Perth girls, were on holiday together at Byron Bay when a curvaceous Ward was photographed emerging from the surf in a swimsuit last month.

Ward, who was linked to the actor at the time of his death and has not modelled since, is yet to indicate when or if she’ll be returning to the business and was conspicuously absent from New York Fashion Week this week.

Gallery link:
Movie Productions > The Black Balloon (2008) > Photoshoot

Thanks Ida for sending me these photos!

Added Louise Van De Vorst and Tanya Dziahileva to the Lookalike list.

Source, Thanks Ida!

The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) awards will be presented at the Greater Union cinemas, Bondi Junction, Sydney, on February 13.

Best Actress
Gemma Ward The Black Balloon

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Just a week after promises of Gemma Ward’s imminent return to modeling came, Australian tabloid The Sunday Telegraph ran a front page story yesterday advertising “shocking pics” snapped Friday of the model in a swimsuit at Byron Bay, where Ward is currently vacationing, and maliciously labeling her a “Roll Model.”

Gemma first experienced weight-related backlash in October 2007, when she walked the Chanel Spring 2008 runway in a swimsuit, debuting a more voluptuous figure than she carried in the past.  Soon after, she took her year-long sabbatical from modelling; According to an unnamed friend, “She knows she did let herself go during the year, but she had fun doing it, just being herself and doing whatever she wanted.”

Supposedly, she’s currently exercising daily with the help of a personal trainer, presumedly to hit model weight for that comeback.  Although she’s never talked publicly about wrestling to maintain the “ideal” model weight, Gemma is far from alone in her struggle — Ali Michael told Teen Vogue about her debilitating laxative use last year, and Coco Rocha detailed her battle with diuretic pills at a CFDA panel.

Added Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Pugh, Tatiana Lyadochkina, Katty Ukhanova and Emma Bunton to the Lookalike list. Thanks Emma and Carolyn for suggestions! More to come!