Television Without Pity

1. Why don't Adrianne and Tyra get along?
Adrianne isn't included in the intro to America's Next Top Model, and she's not too happy about it (Source: Reality TV Scoop).

During one of the episodes covering America's Next Top Model, E! True Hollywood Story had an interview with Adrianne where she talked about how she was angry that Tyra did not really help her get her act together and start her career after the show ended.

Adrianne did not get her full prize package; the contract with Revlon did not end up being what she expected. "We were told throughout the taping of the show that the winner would have a huge cosmetics deal with Revlon," she said. "Billboards, magazines and all that wonderful fun stuff. What ended up happening was, I found out later on when I was waiting around for this deal that never showed up… I was told that it was just convention work. I never got paid till this day for the work that I did for them (Source: PR.com).

Adrianne sent Tyra a rather acerbic e-Mail discussing how she was unhappy about how she was just left to fend for herself (Source: Adrianne Curry Biography). Adrianne regretted sending the e-Mail and did apologize, but the damage had already been done.

Matters were not helped, when Adrianne posed for Playboy and appeared on an episode of the Surreal Life. Tyra was disappointed when Adrianne did this and even tried to prevent Adrianne from doing the Surreal Life (Source: Factio Magazine).

2. What's the story behind this shewhomustnotbenamed that I always read about on these boards?
shewhomustnotbenamed refers to three different people:

• To Adrianne Curry and how, even though she was the winner of the first cycle, she does not appear in the opening credits for America's Next Top Model and also does not appear on any of the "winner's walls" in the house in which the hamsters stay.
• To a former member of the Television Without Pity boards who provided insider information and spoilers for Cycle Four. She posted numerous messages about the personality of Brittany, the elimination of Christina, conflict between Keenyah and Tiffany, and whether or not the show is rigged. This person caused a huge controversy in the Cycle Four Spoiler thread by posting that Keenyah would not make it past the final four (she was final three), and that Kahlen was tagged to be the winner. As we all know, Naima won America’s Next Top Model for Cycle 4. While the poster was banned for a rude post, the discussion over her spoilers and insiders tips continuted to cause so much controversy that Potes banned all discussion of her from the boards.
• To Naomi Campbell when Tyra referred to "a model" who fell on the runway while wearing high heels. She never named Naomi Campbell, but a clip of Naomi was included when the show aired.

3. Who stole the granola bar?
During the reunion show for Cycle 5 on the Tyra Banks Show, Tyra stated that the theft did not occur on camera. While Lisa has accused Nicole of stealing the granola bar (Source: Totes Umbrellas Blog Spot), Bre has since stated that she feels one of the cameramen may have taken her granola bar to stir up drama (Source: Ask Bre). The identity of the thief has never been proven.

4. Did Nacho really tell Jaeda he didn't like black girls?
During the airing of the episode, The Girl Who Breaks Down, tensions rose between Jaeda and her male model Nacho after he told her he did not like black women. While the actual comment from Nacho did not make it on air, both Eugena and Caridee interviewed that Nacho told Jaeda that he doesn't like black girls.

During a post-show interview, Jaeda said that Nacho came right out and told her that he didn't like black girls; Nacho got up from the table because he didn't want to talk to Jaeda (Source: Reality News Online).

5. Why isn't cycle X available on DVD?
Cycle One of America's Next Top Model is available on DVD. Ken Mok, one of the executive producers has said there are no plans to produce DVDs of the other cycles due to poor sales of Cycle 1 and the fact that you can see reruns of past cycles on VH1 and MTV (Source: Online press conference for bloggers held by Ken Mok).

7. Who are the most successful contestants?
Elyse (C1) is a very successful model in Hong Kong. Mollie Sue (C6) is rising in high fashion and has done a spread in Vogue. Yaya and Eva (C3) both do moderate amounts of acting, Yaya in film, Eva on television. Kim (C5) is a correspondent on MTV news and has found some success in commercial modeling. Eugena (C7) is doing a fair amount of runway work and has a South Pole billboard in Times Square. Jaslene (C8) also has a billboard in Times Square for Lot29, and is doing a fair amount of spokesperson work. Mercedes (C2) was featured in a commercial for Chili's and Yoanna (C2) has her own television show on the Style network. Nicole (C5) does high fashion modeling now and again, her biggest spread being in Elle. A few others have gained some notoriety by being "reality whores" (Adrienne, C1, Michelle, C4).

12. Who is Zob?
Wikipedia posted an early list (before the network officially released the names) of the contestants of Cycle 7 with someone improbably named Zob. We all chuckled because it was just such a weird name. It turned up again on the list for Cycle 8, so we just took it to the extreme and started making jokes about how Zob is really so fierce that when she smiles with her eyes entire countries explode and stuff like that.

This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Feb 1, 2008 @ 2:19 pm.

13. What's a "shenis"?
The term "shenis" or "she-nis" comes from She+Penis. Here it is usually used to refer to hamsters who are particularly mannish (i.e. Michelle, Coryn, Jaeda, Jaslene).

14. Do any of the America's Next Top Model contestants have online journals?
The folks over at LiveJournal have compiled a list of the America's Next Top Model participants with online journals. Here's a list of the real ones we know of:

• Elyse from Cycle 1.
• Shannon from Cycle 1.
• Amanda from Cycle 3.
• Nicole from Cycle 3.
• Kathy from Cycle 6.

15. Do any of the America's Next Top Model contestants have MySpace accounts?
The folks over at LiveJournal have compiled a list of the America's Next Top Model participants with MySpace accounts. Here's a list of the real ones we know of.

16. Why are the contestants called hamsters?
"Hamsters" comes from Big Brother, where the inhabitants of the house are called hamsters, because they're just in there, wandering around doing whatever, and we watch them. It's kind of expanded into a term used to refer to any reality show participants who have to live together.

17. Why do they call it a cycle instead of a season?
It has to do with the length of time for which the show runs. A season is usually 22 to 24 episodes long. A cycle is much shorter; there are 11 to 13 episodes in a cycle. America's Next Top Model has had 9 to 13 episodes and so would be called a cycle.

18. Where can I find pictures of the photo shoots?
You can find pictures from all the cycles of America's Next Top Model at All ANTM.

This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Feb 1, 2008 @ 2:33 pm.

19. Aren't some of the girls secretly (or not so secretly) gay?
The contestants of America's Next Top Model known to be lesbian or bi-sexual are:

• Adrianne (C1) is bisexual. On an October 3, 2005 broadcast of the Opie and Anthony radio show, Curry discussed her bisexuality and revealed numerous past relationships with women (Source: The Fashion Spot).
• Ebony (C1) is lesbian. Her sexuality was discussed numerous times during the airing of America's Next Top Model and her girlfriend, Ka, came to visit Ebony during the episode The Girl Who Drives Everyone Crazy.
• Ann (C3) is not gay. While Ann was shown as being infatuated with Eva during the airing of Cycle 3, she is straight (Source: TV Guide Online).
• Eva (C3) is bisexual. Her sexuality was not disclosed during the airing of her cycle but she was outed on the TWoP boards by another contestant from Cycle 3, Nicole (Source: TWoP Post). Nicole said that Eva never made an attempt to hide her sexual preferences from the other contestants. However, Eva has never publically confirmed whether she is bisexual, lesbian, or straight.
• Nicole (C3) came out as bisexual during the casting episode The Girl With The Secret .
• Michelle (C4) came out as bisexual during the episode The Girl Who Suddenly Collapsed .
• Kim (C5) is a lesbian. Her sexuality was discussed numerous times during the airing of America's Next Top Model.
• Nik (C5) is out as a lesbian in real life but her sexuality was never disclosed on air during her cycle of America's Next Top Model. According to Kim, Nik never made an attempt to hide the fact that she was a lesbian; it was just never shown on air (Source: AfterEllen.com)
• Sarah (C5) is straight. While Sarah was shown kissing Kim Stolz during the episode The Girl Who Makes A Disclaimer, she does not consider herself bisexual or lesbian (Source About.com).
• Leslie (C6) is bisexual. While this was not disclosed during the airing of her cycle, she did discuss this during the interview process for America's Next Top Model (Source: AfterEllen.com).
• Michelle (C7) came out as being either bisexual or gay while on the phone to her mother during the episode The Girl Who Punk'd Ashton. She was also "outed" by Megan Morris prior to the airing of The Girl Who Punk'd Ashton during Megan's interview with AfterEllen.com (Source: AfterEllen.com).
• Megan (C7) is a lesbian. She was shown talking on the phone with her girlfriend during the episode The Girl Who Hates Her Hair.
• Jael (C8) has stated that she is not bisexual, straight, or lesbian. Jael has identified herself as lesbian on her MySpace page, but she says that she does not limit her experiences to either men or women (Source AfterEllen.com). Jael was shown receiving a gift from her boyfriend during the bonus clips for the episode The Girl Who Changes Her Attitude .

20. Why isn't Janice on the show anymore?
At first Janice claimed that she quit over a dispute about money (Source: Reality Blurred), but later recanted her story and said that she was fired from the show (Source: Hollywood.com). There have been rumors that she was fired for spilling the beans too many times (read: not being discrete about the winner). However, Janice has never stated this in an interview.

21. Why can't I find the crime scene photo shoots on the CW web site?
The episode in which the crime scene photos were shot came under heavy criticism by women's rights groups (source TV Guide). Shortly thereafter, the crime scene photos were moved from the CW website. These photos can be found at All ANTM.

22. Why can't I find the Got Milk photo shoots on the CW web site?
It was posted on Fans of Reality Television that each aspect of the Got Milk shoot was responsible for not getting them up on the website. That is, someone claimed that the photos were too racially offensive, and that's why they were not up; someone else said that the Got Milk people didn't sign off on having the pics posted; and a third person insisted that they didn't have the rights to post pictures of the children (Source: Post on TWoP). These photos can be found at All ANTM.

23. So, I guess all these models are anorexic then?
With the exception of Cassie (Cycle 3) who admitted to be bulimic to Amanda in the episode The Girl Everyone Thinks Is A Backstabber and then later back-pedaled in the episode The Girl Who Forgot Her Shoes, there has only been rumor and conjecture as to which contestants for America's Next Top Model have eating disorders. Elyse from Cycle 1 put it the best when she stated that the contestants wear microphones and are recorded the entire time they are in the Top Model house. If there was any evidence of a contestant not eating or throwing up, there would certainly be proof of it. As nothing has been offered as evidence on camera, one can assume that none of the contestants of America's Next Top Model are anorexic.

24. Aren't any of the winners successful?
That depends on how you define successful. Certainly the most successful contestants on America's Next Top Model, Elyse (C1) and Mollie Sue (C6), were not winners and no winner has come close to enjoying the amount of work these two women have secured. While the winners of America's Next Top Model have all done some modeling work, many of are known more for their acting and reality television show appearances than their modeling. For an idea of the agencies, campaigns, magazine covers, and television/movie appearances of each hamster, you can see the Fashion Model Directory and Imdb.com.

This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Mar 10, 2008 @ 1:54 pm.

25. What do the contestant nicknames I see around the TWoP boards mean?

• Beerweave, Tiffany of Cycle 4 - Came from an altercation during a night out during the episode, The Girl With The Secret. Tiffany, semi-finalist in Cycle 3 and cast member for Cycle 4, got into a bar fight with a local girl, who challenged Tiffany to a dance-off, and then poured beer on Tiffany's weave, leading to the oft-quoted line, "THAT STANK HO POURED THE BEER ON MY WEAVE!" Hence the nickname.
• Breastany, Bethany of Cycle 2 - Coined by Djb (Source: TWoP Recap) for the recap of the episode, The Girl Who Has a Temper. It refers to Bethany's large breasts.
• Britt-tit-tit-tit, Brittany of Cycle 8 - When asked to select her super-hero-alter-model-ego name in the episode The Girl Who Gets Thrown In The Pool, Brittany said hers was "Brit, with one T not two. It's not Brit-tit-tit."
• DuhGina, Gina of Cycle 6 – This nickname is the invention of an ANTM recapper named Rich of the blog fourfour. Upon first learning that there was a hamster named Gina, Rich mentioned that he always calls any Gina who comes into his life VaGina. This Gina turned out to be a first class moron, so Rich changed her nick from VaGina to DuhGina.
• Farty G, Brooke of Cycle 7 - Coined by Potes (Source: TWoP Recap) for a recap of the episode, The Girl Who Marks Her Territory. The verbatim quote from the recap is, "One day I was at IKEA, and I came across a display with a light fixture that is called 'Fartyg.' And I, being twelve, couldn't stop laughing and saying, 'Farty G,' which my girlfriend and I then decided would make an excellent name for a rapper. Thus, I give you Brooke, a.k.a. Farty G., because there are more than mad rhymes coming out of that cute little booty, if you know what I'm saying."
• Fugdalena, Magdalena of Cycle 3 – Posters at TWoP replace the 'Mag' portion of Magdalena with 'Fug' because she is so unattractive.
• Ginselle, Giselle of Cycle 1 - Written form of the hackneyed pronunciation of "Giselle," exclusively attributed to Ebony.
• Gollum, Jayla of Cycle 5 - This nickname was coined by Bellahuney2 (Source: TWoP Post) who felt that Jayla looked like the spawn of Satan and Gollum from Lord of the Rings...with a little bit of Beavis from Beavis and Butthead thrown in there to explain the honky teeth.
• Issa, Melrose of Cycle 7 - Full name of Melrose is Melissa Rose. During the casting episode for Cycle 7, The Girl Who Marks Her Territory, Tyra inquired why Melissa Rose shortened her name to Melrose. Melrose replied, "I don't need that 'Issa'."
• KeenJaw - Keenyah of Cycle 4 – Coined by Imsuddenlyawife (Source: TWoP Post) because she felt that Keenyah’s jaw was so big, she should be referred to as KeenJaw.
• "Kristi" - In the casting episode for Cycle 3, The Girl With The Secret, when a list of the girls was posted, she was on the list as "Kristi." Sometimes during her interviews, Kristi's name would appear in quotes as "Kristi" on screen. Most of the time they left the quotes out. This may have been because her middle name was Kristi; her first name was actually Laura. However, Yaya was Yaya's middle name and that was never in quotes. The one and only time Yaya's first name is ever mentioned it appears as "Camara". It just came off as odd due to inconsistency.
• Manchelle, Michelle of Cycle 4 - Coined by Jaci85 (Source: TWoP Post) who felt that Michelle looked like a man.
• Meggggg, Megg of Cycle 6 - The product of some pre-cycle and early-cycle snark on the double Gs of her nickname.
• Quagmire, Keenyah of Cycle 4 – Coined by MuShu because with her receding forehead, receding bridge on her nose, and an enormous jaw, Keenyah reminded MuShu of Peter's friend, Glenn Quagmire, on Family Guy (Source: TWoP Post)
• Robbynnnnnnnne, Robin of Cycle 1 - First name used on the show was Robin, but her real name is Robbyne (Source: Imdb.com). Extra n's are added to poke fun.
• ScariDee, CariDee of Cycle 7 - Coined by Me So Corny (Source: TWoP Post) because CariDee could be a bit scary at times.
• Smellrose, Melrose of Cycle 7 - Coined by Eugena during the episode, The Girl Who Punk'd Ashton. The other contestants for Cycle 7 were antagonistic toward Melrose and created several unflattering nicknames for her, including Smellrose and Melstank.
• Succubus, Jade of Cycle 6 - Coined by ghettoghostman (Source: TWoP Post) because Jade reminded him of the character from that episode of South Park where Chef married the Succubus. Others picked it up because of the way Jade treated Gina; she seemed to thrive on treating Gina badly and stealing her self-esteem. As a succubus is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman to draw energy from others to sustain themselves, this nickname seemed appropriate.
• Tootie or Tootie Carparts, Saleisha of Cycle 9 - Coined by Gielos (Source: TwoP Post). For her makeover, Saleisha got a hairstyle lifted from Tootie in The Facts of Life. In a later photo shoot, she had to pose with used car parts, hence, Tootie Carparts. It is a play on Spongebob Squarepants.
• Wholahay, Dionne of Cycle 8 - During the episode, The Girl Who Gets Thrown In The Pool, the hamsters chose a nickname to introduce themselves at a party attended by many influential people in the industry. Dionne selected the hideous name of Wholahay.
• Whoretny, Whitney of Cycle 8 - Coined by goblyn (Source: TWoP Post). goblyn was never a fan of this Cycle 8 plussie. She wanted a name that was vaguely offensive but refused to spend too much energy on being creative. Thus, Whoretny was born.

This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Mar 10, 2008 @ 2:04 pm.

26. What are "vag-arms" or "vagina arms?"
The term "vagina arms" is the invention of an ANTM recapper named Rich of the blog fourfour. This recap gives a pretty complete explanation of the vagina arms phenomenon. After you follow the link, be sure to scroll to the top of the page.

27. What is a facazzz?
In Cycle 6, Furonda told Jade she had a facade going on and Jade was all, "A facazz? What's a facazz?" You can listen to a clip here.

28. What's this about Tyra and a rib-eating obsession?
During Cycle 3 casting, Tyra admonished a hopeful who was suspected to be anorexic by telling her "I got this weight by eating barbecued ribs, girl." As she was perceived to continue gaining weight, posters and recaps used the reference, ranging from "Tyra looking hungry" to the color of her wig to "Tyra's angry, I bet it's because someone stole a plate of ribs from her."

29. Who is pugpix? Why is she so awesome?
pugpix is a poster on TWoP that has spoiled the winners of Cycle 6, Cycle 7, Cycle 8 and Cycle 9. Her accurate spoilers, a rare find for the later cycles of America's Next Top Mode, along with her writing style, have made her many fans on the TWoP boards. pugpix retired from the spoiler business during cycle 9 because her informants were about to be discovered. Please stop asking for her to come back, or if she knows anything new.

30. What is this pirate scarf I keep reading about?
During the airing of Cycle 8, Tyra sported a pirate headscarf instead of her usual long weave and bangs.

31. What were the prizes in cycle X?
For Cycle 1, the prize was a cosmetics campaign with Revlon cosmetics, a contract with Wilhelmina Models, and a fashion spread within Marie Claire magazine. For Cycle 2, the prize was a contract with IMG Models, a fashion spread within Jane magazine, and a cosmetics campaign with Sephora. For cycles 3 through 6, the prize was representation by Ford Models, a fashion spread within Elle magazine, and a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics. For cycles 7 through 9, the prize is management and representation by Elite Model Management, a photo shoot for the cover and a six-page spread within Seventeen magazine, and a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics.

32. What's the deal with Tyra and Naomi Campbell?
Tyra has made no secret of the fact that Naomi Campbell is the reason for her retirement from the modeling industry (Source: Imdb.com News). According to Tyra, when her modeling career was on the rise, Naomi interceded to get Tyra canceled from jobs. Why? There was an unwritten rule in modeling that there could be only 10 top models, with only one of them being black (Source: People). As the reigning black supermodel, Naomi felt threatened by Tyra's rising success. The two finally made up in 2005 on an episode of Banks' syndicated talk show The Tyra Banks Show.

33. Who was supposed to win cycle 3?
There are many different rumors and no confirmed answer, but the prevailing theory is that Ford wanted Ann to win, Tyra wanted Tocarra to win and Cover Girl wanted Eva to win (Source: TWoP Posts One, Two).

34. Who was supposed to win cycle 4?
There is no confirmation of this, but it's suspected that Tiffany was to win before the events of the acting episode that cycle, The Girl Who Drove Tyra Over The Edge.

35. What's the sundae final 3 (chocolate, vanilla, and caramel)?
The sundae final 3 refers to the skin color of the final three girls - generally one is white (vanilla), one is black (chocolate) and one is either a light-skinned black girl, biracial, or some other ethnic group. This has occurred in cycles 3 through 6.

36. What's this about a "winners' curse"?
The winners' curse, in context with America's Next Top Model, refers to the fact that the winners tend to enjoy much less success than the contestants that are eliminated early. The winners don't go on to do many fashion-related events, such as runway shows or photo shoots.


This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Mar 10, 2008 @ 1:56 pm.

37. Who is "FryFry?"
FryFry is another nickname for Tyra. This nickname comes from her love of fatty foods, and lends itself to humiliating rhymes.

38. How long does it take to shoot a cycle? Do they really have a week between each photo shoot?
Up until the remaining girls go to their foreign locale, usually one episode corresponds to one week in normal time. During this week the girls have challenges, training with Miss J or talks with other judges, discussions with Tyra Banks, and a photo shoot. Training and discussion can happen at any time in the season, with Tyra appearing less frequently than Miss J or other judges. Usually the week's judging occurs the day after a photo shoot, although infrequently it can occur the same day.

Upon arriving at their international destination, an episode is usually comprised of three to four days of events, making the cost of shooting overseas cheaper for the production companies involved. Apart from go-sees, which happen every cycle, fewer challenges are involved at the foreign locales.

39. Writer's strike? Isn't this a REALITY show?
On July 21, 2006 the twelve writer-producers for America's Next Top Model went on strike while working on Cycle 7. The writer-producers sought representation through the Writer's Guild of America (WGA), which would have provided them with health insurance, pensions, regulated wages, and residuals. These are the same benefits received by writers of scripted shows (Source: TWoP Interview).

While credited as show producers or associate show producers, reality show writers do work that constitutes storytelling and they feel it should be classified as writing. Reality show writers must go through about 200 hours of raw footage and sculpt that into a cohesive and dramatic episode. They look at primary characters along with who is being eliminated that week, and craft an arc so that their elimination is either something the viewers are sad about or happy about. Other secondary story lines are decided and, after an outline is drafted, the writers scrutinize the footage and choose line by line how to best tell the story and craft it to a 41-minute episode with a beginning, middle and end (Source: FOXNews.com).

In November 2006, the striking writer-producers were taken off payroll.

40. What's the deal with Miss Jay? Is he a she, or is he a he, or is he an it?
Miss Jay, whose name real name is J Alexander, is a male model. He was given the name Miss Jay because Robin was getting him confused with Jay Manuel. As J Alexander was that one that walked around in panties and high heels, he was the one that was referred to as Miss Jay. Jay Manuel is referred to as Mr. Jay.

J Alexander began his career working the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier in New York City as a clotheshorse. After a modeling stint in Tokyo, he eventually decided to settle in Paris, and since 1991, is a preferred contact for casting and coaching runway models for well-known designers, including Valentino, Galliano, Bill Blass, Alexander McQueen, Chanel and Nina Ricci (Source: The BV Newswire).

41. Is it true that some of the eliminated girls go overseas/walk in the final runway show?
Yes, it true that some of the eliminated girls go overseas/walk in the final runway show. This is done to reduce spoilers. If only Natasha and Jaslene were a part of the Cycle 9 final runway challenge, anyone attending the show would know who the final two for Cycle 8 were.

Girls that have been taken overseas (that we know of):

• Leslie and Brooke (C6) were in Thailand and photographed by Nigel
• Ambreal (C9) was supposedly spotted on a photo shoot in China (Source: TWoP Post)
• Elyse has said that she, Kesse, and Robin, walked in the final runway show (Source: FORT Post)
• Mila (C9) was spotted in the Colleen Quen fashion show

This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Mar 9, 2008 @ 7:54 pm.

42. Why do some girls get drastic, shitty makeovers on makeover day?
As much as Tyra loves to say it's because the girls have strong features and strong personalities and thus need bold hair styles, it's basically for the drama. The bitchiest, whiniest, or most complacent girls get the worst makeovers, therefore providing endless drama with their whining and crying.

There are also the theories that it's: (1) to disable better models so it seems less ridiculous when they don't win; (2) to take the most arrogant hamsters down a peg (see: Jade of C6); and (3) as a personal test for Tyra to see who "really" wants it by not crying through a heinous makeover. Or, it could be that Tyra is just a sadist.

The most common makeovers have been:

• Bald look: Seems to be Tyra's idea of what an "African Queen" should look like; only given to black girls, and frequently they're not completely bald. Recipients: Ebony (C1), Nnenna (C6), and Bianca (C9).
• The Naomi Campbell weave: not terrible, but frequently given to black girls; a long, straight, black weave. Recipients: Tiffany (C4), Bre (C5), Furonda (C6), Danielle (C6), Eugena (C7), Whitney (C8), and Ebony (C9).
• The "Mia Farrow:" Tyra loves this cut, and always wants to give it, but never quite succeeds in giving what Mia had in Rosemary's Baby. Recipients: Catie (C2), Cassandra (C5), Mollie Sue (C6), Megan (C7), and Jael (C8).
• Peed-on-snow blond: This show is almost incapable of giving a natural blond dye job. It is always either terrible more white than blond white-blond, or looks like rancid piss, and the girls they give it to ALWAYS make it overseas and their roots are NEVER touched up, so they ALWAYS look a mess, and it's just infuriating, really. Recipients: Catie (C2), Shandi (C2), Amanda (C3), Eva (C3), Michelle (C4), Jade (C6), Megan (C7), Melrose (C7), and Jenah (C9).
• Faux hawk: Essentially a Mohawk, but only Naima ever styled it that way. Recipients: Yoanna (C2), Naima (C4), Sara (C6), and Renee (C8).
• The Spiteful Short Cut: Given to any girl who said, "They can cut all my hair off, I don't care!" just to prove that yes, in fact, they do care. Used to incite drama. (Note: hamsters have received the spiteful short cut and weren't quite so bratty to qualify, notably Sara (C6), Jael (C8), Sarah (C9), and Lisa (C9)). Recipients: Catie (C2), Jennipher (C3), Cassandra (C5) who eventually quit over her haircut, Jade (C6), Monique (C7), Jaeda (C7), Renee (C8), and Bianca (C9).

43. How is ANTM perceived in the fashion industry?
The fashion industry doesn't take the show seriously. AJ (C7) was told by her modeling agency to deny she was associated with the show because it is viewed by the fashion industry as a big joke (Source: Reality News Online). Elyse had clients abruptly hand her portfolio back when they come upon the snake shot from the show (Source: TWoP Post).

Many designers don't want anything to overshadow their brand or the looks they've worked hard to create. When Chanel or Louis Vuitton casts a model for a campaign they want the first thought in your head to be about the product, and not "That's Jaslene from Top Model!" Unless a fledgling designer really needs that boost from a semi-celebrity, a Top Model winner could actually hinder an expensive campaign (Source: E! Gossip).

Indeed, the agencies for Michelle (C4) and Brittany (C8) have changed their names to distance the women from America’s Next Top Model.

Even within the world Top Model, ANTM doesn't seem especially respected. The final three of Cycle 3 of Australia's Next Top Model went to Los Angeles. They had a series of three go-sees with some LA designers. Ashley Paige booked Jordan for a show, and Dom Deluca stated that the America's Next Top Model girls were "Mall Rats" compared to the Australian girls (Source Wikipedia Episode Description).

This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Apr 21, 2008 @ 9:58 am.

44. What's Giselle/Mercedes/Jenascia/Naima/Jade/Leslie's ethnic background?
These are the ethnic backgrounds of the contestants as they describe themselves.

• Giselle (C1) is Hispanic (Source: TWoP Post and BNET)
• Katie (C1) is Hispanic, Mediterranean, and Caucasian (Source: Katie Cleary)
• Nicole (C1) is Spanish, French, Italian, and Indian. (Source: SurfIllustrated.com)
• April (C2) is Japanese, German, Irish, and Welsh (Source: Asian Entertainment)
• Jenascia (C2) is Filipino, Greek, Cherokee Indian, and English (Source: Top Model Realm)
• Mercedes (C2) is Black and Italian (Source: Reality News Online)
• Sara (C2) is Persian and White (Source: PersianMirror)
• Xiomara (C2) is Cuban and Curacaoian (Source: BuddyTV)
• Yoanna (C2) is Mexican and Canadian (Source: SuperiorPics.com)
• Naima (C4) is Black, Mexican, Irish, and Native American (Source: Wikipedia)
• Noelle (C4) is Black and White (Source: TWoP Post)
• Tatiana (C4) is Italian, German and Native-American (Source: Buddy TV)
• Coryn (C5) is half black and half white (Source: TWoP Post)
• Brooke (C6) is half Mexican and half Czech (Source: TWoP Posts One and Two)
• Jade (C6) is is part-Indian and part-African-American (Source: Buddy TV)
• Jaeda (C6) is half black and half white (Source: TWoP Post)
• Leslie (C6) is part Colombian and Honduran (Source AZCentral.com)
• Wendy (C6) is is African-American, Native American Indian, and Italian (Source: Fans of Reality TV)
• Jael (C8) is African-American, German and Jewish (Source: LiveJournal).
• Lisa (C9) is Jamaican and German. She was born in Jamaica (Source: FORT Interview).

45. What's all this controversy over Saleisha, the winner for Cycle 9?
During the episode The Girls Go Cruisin', Tyra discussed that she had a previous relationship with Saleisha; Saleisha attended Tyra's T-Zone Camp.

What was never shown on air was the fact that Saleisha and Tyra have a relationship that extends beyond Saleisha's attendance at T-Zone that includes:

• Being one of about a dozen models that walked on the Tyra's Spring Fashion Spectacular episode of the Tyra Banks Show showing off designs by Project Runway's Rami Kashaou, which originally aired on February 21, 2007 (Source: CW Lounge and Imdb.com). You can see Saleisha starting at 3:34 in this video.
• Participation in the Gen Art fashion show that aired in the episode The Girl Who Kissed A Roach that aired during Cycle 6 of America's Next Top Model (Source: Jezebel.com).
• Appearing on the Do it for Less episode of the Tyra Banks Show, which originally aired on February 2, 2006.

In addition to the multiple connections to Tyra, Saleisha had a non-speaking role in a nationwide Wendy's commercial that aired in 2007 (Source: Reality TV World). Many feel this violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the requirement that previous contestants have no national modeling experience for the past five years.

The CW has stated that they reviewed the Wendy's commercial during Saleisha's interview process for the show. The network determined that her appearance did not amount to 'modeling' experience (Source: EURweb).

It should be noted that several contestants had modeling experience before appearing on the show. Sarah (C8), Jaslene (C8), Kimberly (C9), Michelle (C7), Amanda (C7), and Megg (C7) are just a few of past America's Next Top Model contestants that had previous professional modeling experience. Like Saleisha, Kimberly (C9), had previous acting experience. Kimberly has acted in the movies Exploring Love and The Touch (Source: Imdb.com).

However, given her multiple connections to Tyra, it seems suspicious that Saleisha ended up winning her cycle, especially as many of her competitors consistently took stronger photographs.


This post has been edited by TWoP Pembleton: Mar 9, 2008 @ 7:56 pm.