Swimsuit model Soraya Johnston, 26, will feature in the US and Australian editions of Maxim Magazine after placing third in the men's magazine event.

The competition was based on a voting system and with much support from her family and friends Ms Johnston was the favourite to win, leading until the last day.

Ms Johnston said she did not think she would have made it to the top eight finalists.

"My friends approached me about entering in the competition telling me to enter, so I applied with a photo and short bio and I was accepted," she said.

"500 girls were accepted into the competition and each week entrants had to get the most votes to keep going through the competition until there were eight finalists.

"Coming from Mount Isa I was just very surprised I got that far.

"People could vote for free once a day, or pay for additional votes. By the end of the competition I had raised $24,000 in paid votes for the KT Foundation."

Ms Johnston, now based in the Gold Coast, said she hoped the result from the competition would open more doors for her modeling career.

"I was told by head office in America that I was their favourite and they hoped I would win," she said.

"There have also been talks of being on the cover of a later edition of Maxim.

"However my dream goal is to be a role model for people in Mount Isa. I know there are a lot of people who think there is not much they can do being there or they can't break the cycle. But that is where it all started for me."

"Going home and getting great support from the community really pushed me to do it more."

Ms Johnston felt most of her competition votes came from Mount Isa and she thanked everyone for backing her through the event.

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