New ABC reality show looks for inner beauty

Beverly Hills, Calif. —- “Pretty is as pretty does” is an old adage one rarely hears these days. But supermodel Cheryl Tiegs still believes it. And she lives it.

Though Tiegs has been a top model since she was 16, she never quite forgot her roots. “I don’t know how the business saw it but I personally thought it made a difference what kind of person you were,” she says.

“In fact, I’m German and from Minnesota and I’d come early and stay late if they wanted me to because I was so grateful for the money I was making and the great job. I think over the years —- not to brag —- but I think I did get the reputation of being nice and easy to work with.”

That perception will be put to the test on Jan. 5 when ABC premieres “True Beauty,” a show that pits four gorgeous men and women against each other, all assuming they’re being judged simply on their looks. But it’s what they are underneath that counts, says Tiegs, who’s one of the judges.

“I think true beauty really does have to do with an inner light that does shine,” she says. “People ask, ‘What is star quality?’ I don’t know the answer to that, nobody does, but my idea of it is someone who has something to offer. When I finished my formal education [modeling agent] Nina Blanchard said, ‘Now that you’ve finished your formal education, the key to beauty is to keep learning, growing, educating yourself.’ That’s kind of what I’ve done. And I think that’s what an attractive person is. They shine. When they walk in a room, you’re literally attracted to them because they have something to say, they’ve done something with their lives, and that’s what I kept looking for in contestants, really looking into their eyes to see what was going on.”