Louise Glover -

Louise Glover (born 8 February 1983) is an English model, beauty queen, and photographer. She is well known from her work as a glamour model, with appearances in British lad mags, including FHM, Bizarre, Maxim, Loaded, and tabloids such as the News of the World, The Sun and Daily Star. She is the first British model to be named "Model of the Year" in Playboy Special Editions.

Glover grew up with a troubled childhood, with drug abusing parents, in foster care, and eventually living alone from the age of 15.

She struggled to become a model from an early age. At the start of her career, she was sentenced to community service for not reporting her early earnings while receiving welfare. Glover has been a continued participant in and supporter of the charity Raleigh International, which she credits for contributing to her early motivation.

Louise Glover was born on 8 February 1983 in St Helens, Merseyside, England. She had a troubled childhood; her parents had problems with drugs and spent time in jail. She ended up growing up partly in St Helens with her father's family, partly in Great Yarmouth with her mother's, and partly in foster care, which, she says, led to her being bullied and made her a very shy and quiet child. She changed homes and schools many times. At age 15, she was released from foster care, and got her own apartment.

Glover had started her modelling career early, when at the age of 9, a photographer noticed her on a shopping trip with her mother, and compared her to a young version of Lorraine Chase from the British TV show Emmerdale. Glover found she enjoyed being photographed, and planned to become a professional model from the age of 12.

She began entering modelling contests at the age of 14, and beauty pageants, to get noticed as a model. She was a regional finalist for the top beauty title Miss Great Britain at the age of 17, and traveled to London to be a national finalist at the age of 18, while studying Holistic Therapy at St Helens College.

Living on her own in the charitable Grosvenor Housing Association's Ravenhead Foyer in St. Helens, Glover had to appeal to others for financial support for the contest entry fee and travel costs. She found time to raise funds to help others, however, traveling to Belize in 2000 with a Raleigh International project, and to Israel in 2001, to teach English language to disadvantaged children.

The ten weeks in Belize had a great impact on her motivation. "It was the best thing I could have ever done at that point in my life", she says. At age 19, she represented Great Britain in the Miss Earth contest in the Philippines. Soon after, her modelling offers increased tenfold.