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Sophie Howard and Leah Francis in Nuts

Nuts brought models Sophie Howard and Leah Francis together for a shared glamour feature.

Nuts was a weekly, and that single fact explains a lot about how it worked. A new issue every week meant a constant appetite for fresh pictures, quick turnarounds and headlines that could sell a cover at a glance. Glamour was the magazine’s calling card, sitting alongside sport, cars, gadgets and humour, and the weekly cycle rewarded features that were simple to grasp and strong on impact.

Pairing two models was one of the easiest ways to deliver that. A double feature gives the editor two names for the cover line and the photographer a richer set of compositions, and it lets readers who follow either model find something for them in the same pages. Sophie Howard and Leah Francis sharing a feature is a textbook example of the approach: two familiar faces, one shoot, one clear headline.

The weekly glamour formula

Features in the British weeklies of the period tended to share a recognisable look. Bright, even lighting kept the pages punchy; settings were often simple, from a clean studio backdrop to a sunlit location; and the styling stayed within the familiar range of swimwear and lingerie. Within those limits, the interest came from the models themselves and from how the pair played off each other across the spread.

The original pictures belong to the publisher and are not reproduced here. This page keeps the feature in the archive as a short written record of two models and the magazine that brought them together.

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