Erika Heynatz hit the national psyche as the original host of Australia’s Next Top Model (ANTM) where her personality – and legs – won over many hearts. But Heynatz knows how to take a leap of faith. And with legs as long as hers, who wouldn’t?

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But ANTM wasn’t enough for Heynatz, who took a leap from the security of what has become a Foxtel favourite to appear on the first season of the reality show It Takes Two. The premise of the show was simple: a celebrity is paired with a professional singer and together they sing a series of duets, each week another couple eliminated.

But if that leap wasn’t risky enough, Heynatz found herself paired with an opera singer (specifically David Hogsen). What would have struck many as an impossible task spurred Heynatz on and saw her win the first series. Her prize? She got signed to EMI. And now? She’s about to launch her debut album.

‘Jaws hit the ground,’ Heynatz said of her decision to jump ship from a secure job to what many thought was a whim. ‘Friends were like “What are you doing? We didn’t know that you liked music,” and that’s because it’s a private passion and it’s something that I think of as a creative pursuit that has never seemed terribly practical.

‘You think, how are you going to make money? What are you doing? My friends and a lot of my colleagues said to me “This is a huge risk that you’re taking, you’re leaving something that is secure, it’s a successful format, there’s a guarantee of work there for you, it’s an established brand, you’ve got people who love you in that role, it’s a great fit”.

‘That’s all fine and good… but there’s also the small matter of me satisfying my own desires and my own passions.’

That small matter has become an all consuming passion to create music. The result is a first single that is well-crafted and soaring, all served on a bed of acoustic inspired organic pop.

‘It’s very melodic, lots of harmonies but it’s not… I think with me coming from a fashion background and TV background, there was the assumption that perhaps I was going to move into a style of music that was much more controlled or much more heavily produced. So to clarify, it certainly isn’t that; it’s a much more raw, natural pop sound.’

‘For me the song, in terms of its momentum and its energy, it’s about breaking out of structure, the desire for connection and ultimately, the desire to he heard and felt in a relationship with somebody – being receptive to love. And obviously for me, it talks about the rejection in that process; whether or not you’re open to receiving love. It’s very much about the kingdom of the heart.’

Erika Heynatz’s debut single Kingdom is out now through EMI. www.erika.com.au

Scott-Patrick Mitchell