PETITE model Nicola Ulian may have made it big in the glamour world but home is where the heart is for the former Philips High School pupil.

Twenty-one-year-old Nicola,or Nikki as she is known professionally, has managed to keep her feet firmly on the ground since becoming a Page 3 model for the Daily Star.

And although she works to a gruelling schedule, commuting to London for photo shoots and casting jobs, she is most comfortable curled up on the sofa watching television at her family home in Park Road, Prestwich.

Said the 5ft 2ins blonde: "It's hard work. I can receive a call one day asking me to be in London by 9.30am the next.

"I can often be leaving the house at 5 o'clock in the morning to catch the train. It would be so much easier to actually move to the city but I don't want to."

Nikki added: "If I was to advise anyone on how to make it big I would say pack up your things, your life and move down to London.

"But that's not for me. Not yet anyway. I don't want to hand over most of my earnings to rent a flat and have to return to it late at night alone."

If anything, Nikki would put down her recent success to the support from her strong family unit, which includes mum Freda, stepdad David and younger sister Verity (14), and a close group of friends.

And she said staying in Prestwich and meeting up with old school friends has kept things in perspective for her.

"I couldn't have coped without my friend Lucy," she said. "She would stay up late and paint my nails for jobs the next day!"

Twelve months ago Nikki, who is good friends with the model Jordan, was just another face in the crowd.

After leaving school with no direction, she lasted just one week on a hairdressing course while keeping her friend company, Nikki trained as a florist in Manchester. She did promotional work in her spare time and it was while handing out leaflets at Birmingham NEC that she unwittingly entered a massive competition to discover the latest Max Star Babe for Max Power motor magazine and won.

Nikki explained: "I just thought it was a competition to win a portfolio of photographs but there were hundreds of girls. When I went on to the winner's podium it was swamped by blokes.

" It was truly life changing."

At first Nikki was adamant she would not pose topless but she soon realised the image of glamour modelling had changed from "the old man sat in a studio taking dirty pictures".

"My height prevented me from gaining certain jobs but after about four months I decided to do Page 3 and did a shoot for the Daily Star.

"Considering the nationals receive hundreds of requests from potential models every week and it takes some girls years to get into the business, I was extremely lucky," Nikki went on. "It helped that my first photo shoot was with Jeany Savage, who was a judge on the Max Power panel."

And with her tiny frame, Nikki measures a slim 32-23-32, she is doing her bit to quash the old fashioned Page 3 image further.

"I'm not your usual big, busty blonde!" she states.

But that has not stopped the pretty brown-eyed model from making her career a success. When she is not posing on Page 3 of the popular tabloid she can be seen advertising Max Power magazine and its live NEC motor show in numerous magazines and she has made a "cameo" appearance on Brookside.

"A full length poster of me was plastered on the wall of Tin Head's cell in one scene," she laughed. "My friend called from Liverpool to tell me. All my friends get excited about seeing me, more than I do.

"I am still a bit oblivious to what I have achieved. People think I will automatically be arrogant but I am still the same. I like sitting on my backside, stuffing my face and watching television like everyone else!"

Nikki's reign as the Max Star Babe ends this weekend and the magazine is on the look-out for a new face.

Proud mum Freda said: "Nikki has done incredibly well, we are all proud of her. She is very sensible and still gets embarrassed about what she does.

"She appears to be a dizzy blonde," she joked, "but she is far from it."