Can a spin-off be better than an original? In the case of the long-running Top Model franchise, created by Tyra Banks, the answer is yes. In its 24 cycles, America’s Next Top Model has only produced a handful of successful models. And by success, we mean placements in fashion editorials and runway shows.
The very first winner of America’s Next Top Model — Adrianne Curry — became famous for marrying and divorcing Christopher Knight (Peter from Brady Bunch fame) and cosplaying at conventions. Hardly high fashion. The winner of Cycle 3 — Eva Marcille — is now a cast member on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Runner-up Yaya DaCosta went the acting route and stars on Chigaco Med. Many of the show’s other winners have had short-lived modeling careers or left the industry entirely.
There are some exceptions. Cycle 10’s Fatima Siad shot a Herve Leger campaign and has walked for Dries Van Noten and Hermès. Cycle 21 winner Keith Carlos and Cycle 22 winner Nyle DiMarco do plenty of catalog work, but fashion is one of the industries where women get paid more than men.
The same can’t be said for Australia’s Next Top Model. Its winners grace international fashion magazines and runways. Alumni like Alice Burdeau, Montana Cox, and Aleyna FitzGerald consistently work with top designers. The difference? America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) focuses on reality TV drama, while Australia’s Next Top Model (AusNTM) focuses on modeling.
Here’s five reasons why Australia’s Next Top Model is better than the American version:
Casting Standards
While there is greater diversity in fashion today with the proliferation of social media and expanding beauty standards, most fashion designers hire models for fit, not how pretty they are. Models are hangers for clothes. AusNTM has a height requirement of 5’8,” although winner Melissa Juratowitch was an exception. There are no “short” models (as ANTM had in Cycle 13) or plus-size models on AusNTM (though winner Tahnee Atkinson transitioned into being a plus-size model).
They also have a lower minimum age: 16. Banks herself was signed to Elite Model Management when she was 16, and was booking many Parisian runways while still in high school. While diversity on ANTM is lauded (and rightly so), the standards on AusNTM fall more in line with the fashion industry. Some feel the contestants on ANTM are cast for their entertainment value over their modeling potential. In the cycle currently airing, two models have quit America’s Next Top Model. That’s the same number in AusNTM’s 10-cycle history.
No Gimmicks
Reality TV competitions have to be entertaining while finding a winner, but ANTM has reached ridiculous new heights (or lows) with the aforementioned “short models” season (Cycle 13), or the gimmicky British Invasion season (Cycle 18) which pitted alums from Britain’s Next Top Model against U.S. newcomers (a Brit, Sophie Sumner, was the surprise winner). Banks has a penchant for creating her own words (i.e. “smize,” which means smiling with your eyes). She also coined “tooch,” “booch” and “pot ledom,” which is “top model” spelled backwards.
Real Challenges
AusNTM focuses on challenges and photo shoots that build the contestants’ portfolios, including beauty shots, commercial campaigns for major brands like Colgate, go-sees with top designers, and international trips to get real-world experience. Cycle 21 of ANTM was the last to travel internationally (Korea). Cycle 22 went to the exotic destination of… Las Vegas. Meanwhile, contestants on its Australian counterpart have traveled to and shot in Milan, Paris, and New York City.
AusNTM challenges are meant to test the contestants’ poise, personality, and other aspects of their presentation. ANTM, on the other hand, has challenges like the one above. While we like the idea of reversing gender portrayals in fashion, we’re pretty sure that’s not what most have in mind.
Top Mentors, Photographers, and Judges
Like ANTM, AusNTM has gone through several panel shakeups, but the one constant is Aussie designer Alex Perry, who is blunt with his criticism and not superfluous (we’re talking about you, Andre Leon Talley). Former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins serves as the main host/judge, and while there was one challenge where the models wore her swimwear line, she stays professional (Banks has plugged everything from her music career to her make-up line on ANTM). AusNTM features three mentors (Cheyenne Tozzi and twins Jordan and Mark Stenmark) who provide consistent guidance and watch contestants develop. It’s featured supermodels like Elle MacPherson and Miranda Kerr as guests, and even had Kim Kardashian for a social media challenge (to be fair, the Kardashians did appear in two episodes of ANTM, including a photo shoot with Kendall Jenner before she had her breakout career). Even Banks herself flew to Australia to judge the Cycle 9 AusNTM finale.
ANTM injected some high fashion eight years ago in Cycle 15, bringing aforementioned Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley to the panel, adding a fashion spread in Vogue Italia, cover of Beauty in Vogue, and a contract with Wilhemina Models as a prize. But since then, the prizes have become far less lucrative: a contract with Next Models Management, a photo spread (not even a cover) in Paper, and an avatar in the Top Model mobile game.
In Cycle 15, famed photographers like Patrick Demarchelier and Matthew Rolston shot the contestants. By Cycle 21, Banks called upon her then-boyfriend Erik Asla to shoot the models ten times.
AusNTM employs both domestic and internationally recognized photographers. The prize package is stronger, too: an editorial spread in Elle Australia (until Cycle 8 it was a cover and spread in Harper’s Bazaar Australia), representation by Priscillas Model Management (whose clients include Alessandra Ambrosio and Naomi Campbell), and a trip to New York for Fashion Week. The most recent winner, 16-year-old Aleyna Fitzgerald, has walked for Balmain (above), Armani, Jeremy Scott, and more.
Public Interest and Involvement
AusNTM is very popular in Australia, ranking among its most-watched programs. For several seasons, the public actually helped pick a winner via remote voting.
The show hasn’t been without controversy (former host Sarah Murdoch famously announced the wrong results back in Cycle 6), and a contestant was disqualified for attacking another in Cycle 8. But, by and large, AusNTM has been seen as a career-making vehicle for its winners.
The winners of ANTM, from Curry to CariDee English have criticized the show for not preparing them for the modeling industry and not helping them after their wins. It’s that authenticity and actual career investment that make its Aussie counterpart so much more compelling.
Cycle 24 of ANTM is currently airing on VH1, while the next cycle of AusNTM has yet to be announced. Previous seasons can be seen on YouTube.
