Annette Edwards
Born (1952-04-08) 8 April 1952

Annette Edwards (born April 1952) holds consecutive awards for breeding the world's longest rabbits and is the oldest glamour model in the United Kingdom.[1]

Life and career

As a child, Edwards was raised by her grandmother and had pet rabbits since the age of 8.[2][3] At the age of 15, she began a modelling career with a Birmingham agency. Two years later she was married and stopped modelling until her youngest child was born.[3] Edwards became Miss Birmingham at the age of 29 while caring for six children. Later a ruling would prevent young mothers competing, leading Edwards to support a campaign to overturn the ban in 2014.[4]

Edwards was featured in adverts for Nivea Visage face cream in a 2014 Mothering Sunday campaign. She was 45 at the time. In an interview about this campaign, Edwards spoke about inappropriate advances from photographers and how this type of harassment had not changed in her lifetime.[3] She has spent around £18,000 on surgery to resemble the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit and appeared on the show 50 Greatest Plastic Surgery Shockers.[5][6] The majority of these surgeries were performed when Edwards was 57, coinciding with the birth of her rabbit Darius, the world's longest rabbit.[7] A photo of Edwards dressed as Jessica Rabbit was made Picture of the Day by The Telegraph in 2009.[8]

In 2001 Edwards voiced the character Misty in the Japanese anime horror Malice@Doll.[9]

In 2018 Edwards announced that she was retiring from glamour modelling after 40 years of being a model, having previously been awarded the world's oldest Page 3 model by the Guinness Book of World Records.[1][10] However, since 2004 Edwards has crafted a career in breeding giant rabbits. In 2014 Edwards and her record-breaking rabbit Darius were featured on the Alan Titchmarsh show.[11]

Edwards has a large family; she has ten children, and 14 grandchildren.[12] In 2014 Edwards appeared on the BBC radio show Home Truths to discuss her openness to being a surrogate for her daughter, who cannot conceive.[13]

Rabbit breeding

Edwards breeds giant rabbits known as Continental Giants, reportedly at a cost of £5,000 per year, covering 2,000 carrots and 700 apples. The rabbits require a dog crate but run free in the garden during the day.[14]

Edwards has bred four rabbits that have won awards from the Guinness Book of Records, including Roberto who was her first rabbit to be crowned the largest rabbit in 2004. The award for world's longest rabbit has been held by Edwards consecutively since then, spanning over three generations of rabbits. Since 2010, Darius has held the record for the world's longest rabbit, with a length of 4 ft 4inches and a weight of 3.5 stone.[15][14] Darius took this award from his own mother Alice, who herself took the title from her mother Amy in 2009.[16] In 2018, Edwards announced the retirement of Darius, then 8 years old. Darius has been featured on the Jimmy Carr show and the CBC show Remarkable Rabbits.[1][17] Edwards feeds her rabbits two meals per day consisting of carrots, rabbit mix, apples and cabbage.

In 2019 Daisy May won longest tail in the world, with a length of 17 cm.

One of Edward's rabbits, Simon, died in the cargo section of a Boeing 767 during a United Airlines flight from London to America in 2017. Simon was 10 months old and three-foot long at the time.[5] According to Edwards, Simon had a vet check-up three hours prior to the flight.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The world's biggest bunny is finally retiring from his lavish lifestyle". Metro. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "Meet Darius, the world's biggest rabbit". TODAY.com. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "A model comeback - after 28 years and 10 children". The Independent. 3 March 1997. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Lockley, Mike (17 April 2014). "Fury as young mums banned from competing in Miss Birmingham". birminghammail. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Rabbit 'destined to be world's biggest' dies on United flight". The Independent. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  6. ↑ 50 Greatest Plastic Surgery Shockers, retrieved 19 December 2019
  7. ↑ "Full House Magazine Online | REAL LIFE | COMPETITIONS | RECIPES | FASHION & BEAUTY". fullhousemagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  8. ↑ "Pictures of the day: 3 December 2009". The Daily Telegraph. 3 December 2009. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Malice@Doll (2001) - IMDb, retrieved 19 December 2019
  10. ↑ Varma, Anuji (4 March 2012). "Worcester gran is the oldest topless Page 3 at age 60". birminghammail. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "Oldest Page 3 girl and her bunny talk to Alan Titchmarsh". Worcester News. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  12. ↑ Lockley, Mike (24 March 2014). "Oldest Page Three model to be a TV star in Holland". birminghammail. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "BBC - Radio 4 - Home Truths - Mum Will Have My Baby". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  14. 1 2 "Meet the world's biggest Easter bunny... and his brood". Caters News Agency. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Longest rabbit (living)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "World's biggest rabbit weighs three-and-a-half stone". The Daily Telegraph. 4 April 2010. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  17. ↑ "Remarkable Rabbits". Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  18. ↑ "Giant bunny dies on United Airlines jet". NewsComAu. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
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