A penchant for holding back kept Tara Didon, 19, from moving forward as she was eliminated from Canada’s Next Top Model last night.

The tall, lean model from Chateauguay, Que. had been frequently told by judges she had the best body of all the girls in the competition but was lacking something in her pictures.

Last night’s episode saw the final seven models deal with stage-fright and pronunciation issues as they tried to do a television ad with real-life supermodel Irina Lazareanu looking on for moral support.

The girls were given burlap bags to wear and told to “sell it” as they tried to read a script about the history of fashion.

Confused faces and butchered designer names abounded (one contestant actually referred to iconic label Chanel as “channel”) but Heather managed to project some personality to win the challenge.

For this week’s photo shoot, the girls had to model with a piece of duct tape covering their mouths, showing off that they could use their eyes to speak for them instead.

Ever-imploding Rebeccah had a meltdown as she thought the other girls were mocking her at her shoot while Tara yet again failed to impress judges with her photo, prompting show host Jay Manuel to call her a “woman holding back,” a comment Tara had seen levelled at her by judges in previous weeks as well. The judges eliminated her and she became the fifth person to go this season.

Didon says she had an amazing experience on the show and whole-heartedly agrees with the judges’ assessment, though she does feel she could have eventually been more successful on the show.

“Definitely I did hold back during the competition. I don’t really know why — I know I could have done better,” Didon said.

While she doesn’t think she’s a particularly shy person, she admits to feeling inexperienced at modelling compared to some of the other girls in the competition.

“For me, I felt like I needed to work harder than some of the other girls to get a great picture,” she said.

Now that she’s off the show, Didon is taking a slew of math courses to pursue a degree in finance.

“Whatever comes my way, I’m going to take it but modelling has never been my priority in life,” Didon said.

– CNTM airs Tuesday nights on CTV