Elle Macpherson new host of Britain's Next Top Model

Elle Macpherson has relaunched her television career, ditching acting roles to draw on her three-decade career as a supermodel.

The Australian model and businesswoman is the new host and executive producer of Britain's Next Top Model.

As one of the most successful supermodels of the 1980s and 90s, Macpherson is being promoted under the banner: "It takes one to know one."

"It has been the most amazing experience," Macpherson said at the launch of the programme in London on Wednesday night.

"I'm actually feeling quite sentimental about it.

"I've done a lot in my 30-year career, and I'd have to say this really is one of the best experiences."

Macpherson has appeared in several films and television shows, including Sirens, Batman & Robin, Jane Eyre and five episodes of the hit US sitcom Friends.

More recently, the 47-year-old mother of two starred alongside Mischa Barton in the US series The Beautiful Life, but it was cancelled after two episodes.

Macpherson said she had no regrets about being part of the drama about aspiring models.

"It was a really great experience doing The Beautiful Life," she said.

"We shot what I was supposed to shoot, which was seven episodes, and I learnt a lot and it was a really wonderful experience.

"Mischa was great. We were learning lines together."

Despite her recent forays onto the small screen, the woman once nicknamed The Body admitted she doesn't spend a lot of time in front of the telly.

"I have a huge confession to make - I don't really watch TV," she said.

"I do like this show, though."

Like Sarah Murdoch, who hosts the Australian version of the reality program, Macpherson has plenty of first-hand experience and advice to pass on to the next generation of catwalk hopefuls.

"When I'm looking for girls, I look for a girl that makes me look twice," she said.

"There's something about her - something about her makes me want to know more about her.

"And that comes from within. It's not necessarily the way she looks."

And she's ready to pass on the advice to her two sons Flynn, 12, and Cy, 7, should they chose to follow her into modelling.

"I'll say what I say to everybody: finish school and then come and talk to me," she said.

- AAP