America's Next Top Model
News

Look out, Tyra Banks, a fellow panel member is after your spotlight!

America's Next Top Model judge - and former British supermodel - Twiggy has agreed to a six-figure deal to write a style guide for women over 40.

The 58-year-old model and actress is writing "Those Fab Forties, Fifties and Sixties," a book offering advice to older women about updating their image with the proper makeup and skin care.

Louise Moore, managing director of Penguin's Michael Joseph imprint, predicts the book will be a best-seller when it is released next June.

"Twiggy is as beautiful a woman in her 50s as she was in her 20s, and has been at the forefront of the fashion industry since she was a 1960s supermodel," Moore said.

"This book will act as a practical, essential, indispensable guide to how to rethink your style and carry it through the decades, find what suits you best, source new skincare and makeup tricks, and incorporates Twiggy's in-depth philosophy on what makes women truly stylish."

Jael Strauss, a former America's Next Top Model finalist, has filed an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against two men, including her former talent agent, who allegedly published racy photographs of her without her permission.

According to the lawsuit, the pictures were taken when Strauss was 16 and ended up in a book called Beautiful: Nudes by Marc Baptiste. Some of the shots that originally ended up on the cutting room floor were posted on the Internet and their distribution was enhanced once Strauss made it onto the hit CW reality series, the suit alleges.

Baptiste, who is also responsible for the 2003 tome Intimate: Nudes by Marc Baptiste, photographed Strauss in 2000 at locales in Inglewood and at Malibu's Surf Rider Beach. The Detroit native was as naked in some of the shots as Heidi Klum nude in Arena magazine.

Strauss, who finished fifth earlier this year on Top Model's eighth cycle after Tyra Banks decided that her looks couldn't compensate for her brash personality, alleges that her ex-agent, Christopher Donahue, allowed fellow plaintiff Baptiste to take erotic photos of the then-teenager and then signed off on the book without asking for permission from Strauss' parents.

Also named in the suit are the Millennium Agency, where Donahue works, and Rizzoli/Universe. Strauss is seeking unspecified restitution, as well as punitive and compensatory damages.

In addition to invasion of privacy, Strauss claims that she wasn't paid for the use of her pictures and is also suing for theft of image and unjust enrichment. The aspiring catwalker also accuses Baptiste of trying to seduce her after a photo session.

Continue Reading...

If former America's Next Top Model winner and radio host Adrianne Curry, a.k.a. Mrs. Peter Brady, ever decides on a career change, she's apparently got a knack for pole dancing. Hey, it could be worse.

The celebrity gossip site TMZ spotted the lovely Adrienne Curry grinding away on a stripper pole this weekend at the Giantto and Von Dutch Watch Showcase party at Light Nightclub at the Bellagio in Las Vegas...

She's a natural! Let's see Jaslene Gonzalez do that!

In the hit show's 8th season, America's Next Top Model competitor (and the eventual champion) Jaslene Gonzalez impressed the judges with her spirit.

But an abusive relationship earlier in her life nearly crushed the model's confidence, she reveals in a new interview.

"Before I got into that relationship, I had a good head on my shoulders and walked with my head up high," Gonzalez says in the new issue of Seventeen.

"But during that relationship, things went down little by little. It was such a dark moment in my life. It was horrible!"

Because of her situation, "I wasn't having my rest or eating the food I wanted to eat. So I mentally gave up, but I still did what I had to do. I think perseverance is the key to success. There were so many roadblocks for me, but I overcame them all."

The 21-year-old Jaslene, who edged Natasha Galkina for the crown on the season finale, appears on the cover and in a six-page fashion and beauty layout in the magazine â€" part of her winnings, which also included a contract with Elite modeling agency and a $100,000 deal with CoverGirl.

Should others find themselves in an abusive relationship, Jaslene says:

"I can give so much advice, but it starts within yourself. You need to get help. Talk to somebody, because once you talk about it, you hear it, and then you understand what you're going through. That's what it took for me to let go."

Jaslene Gonzalez, who last week attended The CW's upfronts in New York City, says she gained self-worth from her sometimes challenging experience on America's Next Top Model:

"I couldn't believe how mature, strong, and confident I've grown. I definitely broke down along the way though."

No doubt that Tyra Banks and the rest of the judges saw that growth in Jaslene, who didn't make the top 12 when she auditioned for the previous cycle.

Each week, America's Next Top Model winner Jaslene Gonzalez had to brave crazy photo shoots with full hair and makeup, TV cameras capturing her every move 24/7, and a notoriously tough judging panel.

In the end, the show's judges, including executive producer Tyra Banks, selected the Chicago native to take the top prize.

And deservedly so. After she edged out Natasha Galkina, Us Weekly caught up with America's newest CoverGirl during her recent press tour in New York City.

Us: Who is the first person you called right after you won the show?
Jaslene Gonzalez: Definitely my mom. Once I told her, she told everybody.

Us: What was it like standing in front of the America's Next Top Model judging panel each week?
Jaslene Gonzalez: You're under so much pressure. You think one day you're doing so well and then you're going to the panel room and they critique you so harshly it puts you down. In the middle of the competition I fell off a little bit.

Us: You also auditioned for the show last season but were cut.
Jaslene Gonzalez: I think it prepared me a lot more this time around.

Us: You said Miss J (a.k.a. J. Alexander) is your favorite judge. Who would win in a walk-off between you two?
Jaslene Gonzalez: He lived for my walk. He was in love with me and I was in love with him. He's a queen and I'm a queen, so we have so much in common.

Natasha Galkina, the most controversial and dramatic contestant on America's Next Top Model, was ecstatic to make it as far as she did, but is glad that it's finally over, she tell BuddyTV.

After almost being eliminated in the second week, Natasha proved to herself and the judges that she had what it took as her personality and hard work earned her a spot in the final two, along with eventual winner Jaslene Gonzalez.

Although Natasha didn't become America's Next Top Model, she received all the exposure she could ask for and is more than satisfied to be runner-up.

Natasha sat down with BuddyTV last week to talk about everything that went down on the show and wasn't afraid to hold anything back: good, bad, and ugly.

Q: Can you start off by telling us how you got to be on America's Next Top Model? How did it all start for you?

Natasha: Gosh it's a long story, do you have time? Well, becoming a model was always a dream and I love America's Next Top Model. I always wanted to be on the show and they would never have the casting calls in Dallas when I lived there. So the closest one was 100 hundred miles away on the border of Oklahoma and Texas and I decided to go there because I didn't have anything to do, it was the middle of August.

So I just drove a 100 there and I came and I was like, "Oh my God, so many girls showed up. No way I'm going to be chosen, you know?" So I tried and I went back home and I received the call and they said, "You are the winner! So come on up here again and you have an interview with us." So I was very excited to go there, and I met so many so people from CW and they were very, very nice to me. So when I came up there, I was like, "Where are the other girls? The other winners?" And they're like, "There's no, you are the only one." And it was just so exciting and that's just a little story.

Q: Did you think you were going to make it as far as you did in this competition?

Natasha: I was always hoping to make it as far as possible. I tried to work as hard as possible and learn and I really would try to remember what every judge would say about me and what they tried to correct and work on. And I think that the judges saw it and I think that they saw that I was improving and that's why I made it so far.

Q: You looked shocked when Tyra Banks pulled your picture and you advanced to the final two with Jaslene. What was going through your mind at this time?

Continue reading the full interview here ...

Don't you think the newest America's Next Top Model victor, Jaslene Gonzalez, bears a striking resemblance one of the show's former judges - and the nut who claims to have coined term (and is the first) supermodel: Janice Dickinson.

Jaslene Gonzalez was crowned ANTM on Wednesday night by Tyra Banks, and although she's not acting like an insane diva (yet), it's her looks that have us likening her to the self-proclaimed "world's first supermodel."

The good news? Jaslene Gonzalez conjures up images of early Janice Dickinson; before the reconstruction, tantrums, demands and loss of marbles. Let's hope that the humble innocence remains.

Jaslene Gonzalez may have been a little much for Tyra Banks and company during casting for last season's group of aspiring models, but the fierce competitor, 20, returned for Cycle 8 and proved her worth.

Her miraculous turnaround concluded last night when she was named America's Next Top Model, beating out Natasha and Renee for the prize.

Joining Caridee English and six other Top Model champs, Jaslene Gonzalez talked to People magazine about the Top Model victory, her drama with Felicia and more:

Q: What was it like to see your picture on the screen and be named America's Next Top Model?
Jaslene Gonzalez: I didn't even look at the picture. I was waiting to hear Tyra Banks say my name. Then I looked! Once I looked at the screen, my legs got weak. I couldn't move. I was in shock. They didn't show it, but I was holding onto Natasha for like 15 minutes.

Q: You didn't make the final cut during casting for Cycle 7. How does it feel to come back and win it all?
Jaslene Gonzalez: It means so much. For Cycle 7, things didn't work out, but I'm glad. I was a little too crazy, a little too much. So, second time around I tried to compose myself and show a cooler swagger. I went back stronger than ever. This is what I wanted and I got it.

Follow the link for the Scoop's exclusive recap of the season finale of America's Next Top Model ...

In a candid TV Guide interview, Tyra Banks talks about Wednesday's finale of America's Next Top Model, braving the dating game, and the prospect of adopting kids one day soon.

TV Guide: Can you give us any hints about the season finale of America's Next Top Model?
Tyra Banks: For the fashion show, we decided to do "the evolution of woman."

She starts off as slightly primitive, then she evolves into this kickass, power woman. The Sydney Opera House is the backdrop.

TV Guide: This season Cassandra got frostbite on a shoot, and Natasha was badly burned by a curling iron. Do you have any modeling injuries?
Tyra Banks: I have scars on the backs of my arms from dressers in Paris scraping me with pins as I was taking a shirt or gown off. They pin you to death [to make it fit], and then pull it off really fast to get to the next outfit. I've also been burned on my eyelid and forehead by a curling iron.

TV Guide: Ouch! Did you ever experience the emotional pain that the girls go through in the America's Next Top Model house?
Tyra Banks: I used to live in a model's apartment in New York City. A girl woke me up in the middle of the night because she thought I stole her alarm clock. I was very insulted. I'm like, "I can afford a hotel â€" I stay here for the camaraderie." So what they do on TV, I've been a victim of that stuff.

Continue Reading...

Notice anything missing from this year's America's Next Top Model?

According to season one winner Adrienne Curry, fans have been noticing that she's actually missing from the show's opening credits. And don't think for one second this is okay with the somewhat insane beauty.

Here's her most recent MySpace blog:

Yep, you guys were right, I am not shown on either the opening credits or featured on the walls of the house the girls live in. I frankly could give a s-it less. It seems very petty and immature for [Tyra Banks] & Co. to try to act like the first winner of their show never existed. All I did was raise my voice when I didn't get what I was promised. Were they THAT surprised that I would be outspoken about it? COME ON!

I have since extended the olive branch to them, told them I was sorry about anything hurtful I said (I was pissed!)....but that I was NOT sorry for outting them on their bulls-it.

If you look at my myspace profile, you will see that I posted a pic of TYRA and Top Model. Why? Because I am mature enough to realize that I wouldn't have been able to work to get where I am today if I hadn't landed that show. I give them credit where they deserve it ALL THE TIME. I AM grateful for what I did get out of the show.

However, unlike the winners after me, my show wasn't that popular. Not very many people watched the first season at all. It wasn't untill I had MADE A NAME FOR MYSELF and generated attention OUTSIDE of top model that people watched my season. VH1 started airing my season of top model AFTER The Surreal Life I was on had already finished. Top Model wasn't even originally on VH1!

So, I like to give myself credit for that. ; )

So, as much as they want to hurl insults my way and to "disown" me publicly, they can't change the fact that I was the first...and that I have worked my ASS OFF to climb to the top. It's been 4 years now, and I still have more press, work, etc then any of the other girls from the show.(Though Elyse is doing quite well in Hong Kong I hear). I am an international star now.

Top Model, Surreal Life, and My Fair Brady has airred in almost every country in the world. So, I THANK Tyra for what she did do for me...and for NOT giving me what I thought I would get when I won. If she had, I wouldn't have worked as fucking hard as I did to become as successful as I am. Never in my wildiest dreams did I think I would make it this far.

I am grateful beyond words! I will never forget where I came from...or what got me here. America's Next Top Model changed my life.

I am not mad at Tyra or Top Model for not putting me on there. It's her show, and she can make any choice she wants. I myself will not be taking her pic down off my page, I think it's stupid.