Even in America, it's still super common. Go to any bar, there's a huge crowd of people outside smoking. Drive by an office building, there's a huge clump of smokers outside. Walk anywhere downtown, people are smoking as they walk. It's still everywhere and a super social thing. I wouldn't be surprised if models who just chill out smoking on cam have a decent chunk of folks who smoke, too, and light up when the model does.
I got pissed when I worked in a restaurant because the smokers, aka every single person working there who wasn't me, would get 3-5 smoke breaks a shift and I'd be stuck watching their tables, meanwhile, I got zero breaks because I didn't smoke. If I wanted to actually eat sometime during the day, I would have to order something, grab it when I could, and snag the occasional bite while I was taking something to or from the kitchen. I almost started smoking just so I could actually take a break, because it was BULLSHIT.