America's Next Top Model

Only two waves would be released, Swimwear and Day-to-Night wear, all featuring only Sienna, Sydney, and Paisley. Four fashion packs were also released for the dolls, each featuring images of the four characters, including the never produced Tascha doll. The box for the dolls also made it clear under the logo that they were the only officially licensed dolls from the hit TV show, to differentiate them from Mattel's Top Model Barbie line. The boxes also featured before and after images of the dolls, in reference to the makeovers on the show, and the back of the box also included a backstory for each doll to show that they had multi-faceted personalities and dream careers besides modeling, to counter the accusations that the dolls would be poor role models for children. The dolls had proportions different to that of other MGA fashion dolls, with slightly smaller heads and more Barbie-esque bodies, with jointed torsos for posing and arms molded to be able to rest on their hips. The dolls also noticeably used leftovers from the Bratz line as part of their accessories, as the clothes were stitched from leftover Bratz clothing fabric, and the jewelry was simply repurposed from prior Bratz dolls.[21]

Many credit America's Next Top Model for inspiring later reality TV shows, most notably RuPaul's Drag Race. Kevin O'Keefe and Mathew Rodriguez noted that America's Next Top Model served as "the biggest inspiration" for the show and that season 1 of RuPaul's Drag Race was "a parody of a couple different reality shows ... but more so (of) America's Next Top Model". They explain that "Top Model was a groundbreaking reality show" and that "it crawled so that Drag Race could walk". They drew parallels between Tyra Banks and RuPaul as black people "who (have) been at the top of their field" and "play a persona" on their respective shows. They also compared the judging panels, comparing Michelle Visage to Nigel Barker as an "anchor main judge" who is "harsher in their critiques", although contrasted RuPaul's judges with Tyra's, stating that "RuPaul has never allowed a drag queen to sit on the panel the way Tyra would bring in either Janice Dickinson then Twiggy." Moreover, the "first mini challenge of the first several seasons of Drag Race used to always be a photoshoot" and season 6's photoshoot of jumping off a platform was "directly taken from a photoshoot in season 6 of ANTM, where they had to play fairy tale characters and jump" off a platform. Another "artefact" of Top Model's influence on the show comes from Drag Race's focus on runway, with season 8 contestant Kim Chi being "criticised for not having a model walk". Most importantly, America's Next Top Model "was one of the most queer shows on TV" with regard to the inclusion of Jay Manuel, J. Alexander and Benny Ninja on the judging panel and numerous openly LGBTQ+ contestants, most notably Isis King. It was "covertly queer enough to make the space on TV for something as queer as Drag Race."[26]

DOWNLOAD

Yahoo!'s Shine lifestyle website said the show contained cruelty and elements of humiliation, and that some critiques from the judges are "really cruel and cringe-inducing", claiming that the show "humiliates and degrades young women."[67] The site created the list "10 reasons why 'America's Next Top Model' is bad for women, humans", citing such things as giving the contestants and women viewers unrealistic visions of life as a model, and "always espousing empowerment and female strength and then forcing the contestants into embarrassing scenarios far outside the realm of real-life modeling". One such scenario highlighted was when cycle 12's final two contestants "were made to wear bikinis so skimpy that the producers had to blur out Allison Harvard's butt cheeks", and performed a "creepily sexual mud fight," after which contestant and winner Teyona Anderson was "commended for taking her weave in her hand and whipping it around on the runway like a sexy feather boa."[67]

The winner of cycle 9, Saleisha Stowers, was discovered to have been in a Wendy's commercial, on a catwalk in the cycle 6 show and an episode of Tyra Banks Show prior to her participation. The rules of the competition stated that a contestant must not have appeared as a model in a national campaign during the five years prior to the production of the cycle in which they participate. The CW network said she had revealed her role in the Wendy's commercial, and "after reviewing the commercial, it was determined that her appearance did not amount to 'modeling' experience, and therefore did not exclude her from participating in the show."[70]

The show has also been criticized for its handling of sexual assault allegations from the contestants. For instance, Keenyah was sexually harassed by a male model on a photo shoot during cycle 4 and the show has been criticized for not doing anything when the model stroked her inner thigh,[72] moaned in her ear, took photos of her and harassed her repeatedly for her phone number.[73] Similarly, in cycle 15, the girls were required to kiss a male model during a commercial. Shortly before the commercial shoot however, Kayla revealed that she was sexually assaulted at eleven years old, tearfully telling Jay Manuel that the "challenge freaks me out" and that "I don't want to interact with them" because men "scare me." Ferrel was still made to do the commercial against her wishes and, later in the competition, had to do three additional photo shoots with male models.[74] Similarly, in cycle 16, during a fan meet and greet challenge, Monique was approached by a man who her asked to sign a photo and write that he was a good kisser on it. She declined but said that fellow contestant Alexandria would do it. After resisting the man's advances repeatedly, she finally gave in and have him a kiss on the cheek. She was criticized by J. Alexander for this, who said this could lead onto "stalking", which many deemed unfair, since she was heavily pressured by the man to do so.

The international versions of Top Model have generally been better received by critics. In an article for The Atlantic, Adrienne Raphel explained that "Oddly enough, it's the foreign Top Model spinoffs that are in the more direct business of producing working models, like Ksenia Kahtovitch and Alice Burdeu, not the beautytainment ... queens of ANTM."[77]

Wanna be on top? After 15 years and 24 cycles, America's Next Top Model ended its search for the next big thing in 2018. The reality show, which debuted in May 2003, had an illustrious run, with each of the winners going on to some level of success. Catch up with the previous winners of ANTM, then and now.

Illinois-born Adrianne Curry became the country's first-ever next top model when the show aired its Cycle 1 finale on July 15, 2003. The laid-back brunette, then 20, modeled Baby Phat in the final challenge and beat out fellow finalists Shannon Stewart and Elyse Sewell to take home the crown.

Yoanna House was the next top model after Curry, winning the second cycle of ANTM in 2004. Known for her classic beauty and serious drive, the then-23-year-old Floridian beat out Mercedes Scelba-Shorte and Shandi Sullivan in the final days of the competition to win a modeling contract.

House is still actively modeling. The reality alum walked in Michael Costello's Fall/Winter 2015 fashion show at New York Fashion Week and appeared on HSN as a brand ambassador in 2015. She also hosted the N's reality series Queen Bees in 2008 and reunited with her former ANTM judge on The Tyra Banks Show multiple times throughout the 2000s. In 2020, she did a tell-all interview with Oliver Twixt about her experience on ANTM.

Eva Marcille Pigford, who later dropped her last name, was a busy model throughout the 2000s, appearing in magazines, ad campaigns, and runway shows. Marcille kept up with her reality TV roots, placing fifth on the VH1 horror competition show Scared Famous, and becoming a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Atlanta for two seasons.

Mora now describes herself as a "musician, vocalist, author, model, teacher, and public speaker." The star penned Model Behavior, a motivational guide that was released as an e-book in 2012 and in paperback one year later, released several music videos on her YouTube channel, and launched several online workshops for aspiring models. Mora still regularly walks in fashion shows and shoots ad campaigns.

Shying away from ANTM after her win, Linkletter made no further appearances on the show, but grew a successful modeling career. She had ad campaigns for Forever 21, various runway gigs, editorial spreads, and a contract with L.A. Models to her name.

An Arkansas-born model with the accent to match, Danielle Evans won the sixth cycle of ANTM in 2006. Then 21 years old, Evans made a name for herself with her strong photos and fun personality. She beat out Joanie Dodds and Jade Cole to win the finale in Thailand.

Now under Elite Model Management, Evans has continued to model, booking ad campaigns for New York & Company and Talbots, and walking runways for Nicholas K and Pyer Moss. She expanded her career by publishing 2013's The Skinny on Getting In: An Inside Peek Into the Fashion World for the Aspiring Model and launching her unisex hat-wear brand, Monrowe, in 2018.

English continues to model and has appeared in ads for NightLift lingerie and Ray-Ban. She has also expanded her television rÃsumÃ, with a 2009 gig as the host of Lifetime's Pretty Wicked, and cameos on One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, and Betrayed.

An active runway and print model years later, Gonzalez spends time mentoring the next generation of models through her "empowerment course," On Set With Jaslene, while also running her jewelry line, Starlite by J. She's also made TV appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, Oxygen's Running Russell Simmons, and Chicago Fire.

Stowers parlayed her Top Model win into a successful acting career. Though she spent the years immediately following the show modeling for magazines and walking occasional runways, she booked a 2012 gig on TV Land's The Exes, expanding her rÃsumÃ from there with cameos on New Girl, Switched at Birth, The Fosters, a starring role as Cassandra Foster on All My Children, and a regular series role as Lani on Days of Our Lives.

38c6e68cf9