Naomi Campbell's sweeping beauty fear

May 15, 2007, 7:00 GMT

Naomi Campbell - © Scott Alan / Photorazzi

Naomi Campbell says community service almost ruined her looks.

The British supermodel - who was sentenced to work at New York's sanitation department for throwing a mobile phone at her former housekeeper - was terrified five days of sweeping and cleaning had taken their toll on her face.

Naomi wrote in The Naomi Diaries for US W magazine: "I start to feel the wear and tear of the week. I see bags under my eyes. I think, 'Oh my god. I need a good night's sleep.' "

The 36-year-old admits she was also shocked to discover many of her community service co-workers had never left the US.

She said: "Two of the people in the room have never been on a plane. They ask me what it's like and I'm embarrassed to tell them I was on seven planes the week before alone."

Naomi also revealed her addictive personality got her hooked on sweeping during her community service.

She wrote in one diary entry: "I keep on sweeping. I'm moving so fast they tell me to slow down. I'm getting very protective of my pile of rubbish - kind of the way I feel about my Hermès handbag. I keep looking around to make sure no one is crossing into the area I was assigned to sweep.

"I guess that's my all-or-nothing behaviour again. Once I start sweeping, I have to sweep everything."

The fiery-tempered model admits she started taking drugs when she was 23 to deal with being thrust into the fashion industry at such a young age.

She said: "I started taking drugs to escape or deal with some disaster, like when someone died. I lost a lot of friends in 1997, and that was the year I really fell down emotionally."

(C) BANG Media International