This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

Lara Bingle (born 22 June 1987, Yowie Bay, New South Wales) is an Australian model who is best known for appearing on Fingal Spit in the controversial and ineffective2006 Tourism Australia advertising campaign So where the bloody hell are you? and being the former fiancee of Australian cricket vice captain Michael Clarke.

Early and Personal Life

Her parents are Graham and Sharon Bingle, and she has an older brother named Joshua. Bingle's father Graham Bingle died on 10 May 2008 from liver and pancreatic cancer.

She graduated from St Vincent's College at Potts Point.

On 10 January 2007, Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph claimed that Bingle and Australian cricket Vice Captain Michael Clarke were an item. On 25 March 2008 it was announced that the pair were engaged after Clarke proposed in New York.

Clarke's public relations firm announced the ending of the engagement on March 12, 2010. The two have remained friends.

Career

Bingle has been on the covers of OK!, Who, NW, Famous, New Idea, Grazia and Woman's Day.

Bingle competed on the Nine Network's celebrity ice dancing show Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice, where she was the last girl to be eliminated, coming in sixth out of eight, and in the channel's ad for the 2006-2007 Ashes series. Nine re-hired Bingle in 2008 as a reporter for a new travel show, Holidays for Sale.

Bingle signed a one-year deal in 2008 with international phone company Vodafone as one of their official ambassadors. Bingle signed a three-year contract (2008–2011) with international icon swimwear label Speedo.

Since June 2009, Lara has been heavily involved as a Ambassador for Bowel Cancer Australia.

In April 2010, Bingle was confirmed as Harper's Bazaar presenter for Rosemount Fashion Week. Bingle will join BAZAAR backstage and front row to give BAZAAR TV viewers an insider’s view of Australia’s hottest fashion event.

Controversies

In May 2006, Bingle took legal action against EMAP Australia, who allegedly published photographs of the model without her permission in the 27 March 2006 issue of Australian men's magazine Zoo Weekly. Bingle claims that the magazine defamed her by the way Zoo magazine had published the photos.

On the 28 September 2006 Bingle made an appearance on the AFL Footy Show's Grand Final episode. On 12 December 2006 Melbourne's Seven News reported that Bingle was said to be the 'other woman' involved in the breakdown of Carlton player Brendan Fevola's marriage. Bingle claimed to have been unaware that Fevola was married, but this claim was contradicted by Dermott Brereton, who says he spoke to Bingle before the affair started and told her that Fevola was married.

On 2 March 2010, Bingle started proceedings to sue Brendan Fevola for breach of privacy, defamation and misuse of her image for the release of a nude photo in Woman's Day released on 1 March 2010.

On 4 March 2010 it emerged that Bingle and her agent Max Markson had sold her story relating this nude photo to the same magazine which had published the controversial photo, Woman's Day, for nearly A$200,000. This raised considerable controversy in that Bingle would discuss for large profit, a matter she considered serious enough to sue over and from which she claimed to be hurt.

Bingle dumped manager Max Markson in early May 2010, exclusively announcing it to Grazia magazine in a un-paid interview.

External links

• Lara Bingle on Twitter
• Lara Bingle at the Internet Movie Database
• Lara Bingle at Fashion Model Directory
• [2] 'Where The Bloody Hell Are You' TV ad - on YouTube