Top Model, also called Next Top Model, is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons (referred to as "cycles"). The show takes the form of a modeling competition whose winners typically receive a contract with a major modeling agency and a cover shoot and fashion photo spread in a fashion magazine. The format was created by Tyra Banks for the original series, America's Next Top Model, which first aired in 2003 and was produced by Ken Mok's 10 by 10 Entertainment.[1][2][3]
Each cycle of the show consists of 6–40 episodes and begins with 9–51 contestants. In each episode one contestant is eliminated, though in some cases there may be double eliminations, multiple eliminations, or no elimination at all, based on the consensus of the judging panel. Makeovers are administered to contestants early in the cycle, usually before the first elimination or after the first or second elimination.
Each episode usually begins with the contestants receiving training in an area concurrent with the week's theme. For example, contestants may get coached in runway walking, improvisational acting, and clothing to suit various occasions. A related challenge soon follows, such as a mock (or real) runway show or interview, where one of the models is chosen as the winner (sometimes more than 1 models win the challenge).
The winner of the challenge receives some prizes, such as a contract, a night out, or an advantage at the next photo shoot. The winning contestant is sometimes permitted to share their reward with other contestants of their choosing and on some occasions, may gain immunity from elimination at the next judging. Losing the challenge can result in some minor punishment, like losing frames for the next photo shoot. It can also end in the immediate elimination of the contestant.
Each episode, which covers the events of roughly one week of real time, is usually associated with a theme in the world of modeling, such as dealing with the press in interviews, selling a commercial product, appearing in a runway show, or visiting prospective employers in "go-sees".
In some franchises, the contestants will go to real-life castings. The model who is chosen will complete what is required for the casting, resulting in a leave of absence within the episode – sometimes skipping the photo shoot and other challenges – but is rewarded with immunity for booking the job.
The next segment is usually a photo shoot, which may involve beauty shots (closeup photos emphasizing the face), posing in swimwear, lingerie or other clothing, posing nude or semi-nude, posing with a male model, or posing with animals among other themes. Usually, one photo shoot per cycle is replaced with a television commercial or music video shoot.
Performance in each week's photo or video shoot weighs heavily in the final judging.
The final segment of each episode involves judging by a panel of fashion industry experts. In addition to the regular judges, usually, there is a special guest judge related to that week's theme. Contestants are sometimes given a final challenge in some area of modeling such as posing, runway walking, selling a product, or choosing an appropriate outfit or makeup to satisfy a given situation. Each contestant's photo or video performance is then shown and evaluated by the panel. After all the content has been evaluated, the contestants leave the room and the judges deliberate. Germany, Austria, and Indonesia (cycle 2 - present) feature a themed runway segment in addition to the judging of the photos or videos.
The elimination process follows a rigid format, as the host reveals, one by one and in order of merit, the photos of the contestants who have not been eliminated. Each photo is given to the corresponding contestant, who is told by the host something similar to, "Congratulations. You are still in the running towards becoming [this country or region's] Next Top Model." The first-called contestant may receive additional benefits, such as having their photo displayed prominently in the contestants' living quarters or being allowed to share in the following week's challenge winnings, regardless of their performance in the challenge. The last two contestants who have not received their photos are brought forward for special critiques by the host before the final photo is revealed. The contestant who does not receive a photo is thus eliminated from the competition. Sometimes the last two contestants are both eliminated; rarely, neither is eliminated. Multiple eliminations can also take place.
In some versions of the show, contestants find out whether or not they will continue on in the competition in a completely random fashion. The contestants may be called forward in random order to find out whether or not they performed best during the week. The last two contestants are usually the worst performers. This format is followed by Denmark (cycle 4), the Netherlands (cycles 6–9) and Peru.
In other cases, the models are each called back into the elimination room after deliberation. Upon being called back, they are either eliminated on the spot, declared safe, or they are asked to wait for their results. If the latter happens, the process is repeated with the remaining pool of contestants in danger. This elimination format has been followed by several versions of the show, most notably Austria (cycles 2–9), Germany and Denmark (cycles 2–3,5–6) along with two former versions; Croatia and Serbia.
Episodes typically end with the image of the eliminated models fading away from a group shot of the remaining contestants.
A trip to an international destination is typically scheduled at about two-thirds of the way through the competition, usually with five or six contestants remaining. While overseas, each episode covers roughly three to four days, totaling two weeks of filming abroad. In some international versions, contestants have traveled from two to six different countries.
In some versions of the show, the winner is determined during a live broadcast. This has been done in Germany, Russia, Croatia, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands (cycles 2-10), Benelux (a combination of the former two), Austria, Serbia, New Zealand (cycle 3), Australia (cycles 3–8), Britain (cycle 6), Poland, Vietnam and Greece (cycle 3). Votes are usually submitted via SMS or on any other given website. In cycle 17 of America's Next Top Model the first panel was presented in front of a live crowd, but this wasn't broadcast until the cycle premiere some months later. Also, the elimination process was shot privately during the production.
Cycle 17 of America's Next Top Model featured returning models from previous cycles with an All-Stars competition. In cycle 18 of the same version, seven British models from Britain's Next Top Model competed along with new American contestants. The eighth cycle of Vietnam's Next Top Model also featured returning models from previous cycles. The seventh cycle of Top Model po-ukrainsky also featured returning models from previous cycles.
Through cycles 19-21, America's Next Top Model enabled social media fans to vote for each contestant's photos online based on a scale ranging from 1 (being the worst) to 10 (being the best). Voting took place as filming progressed, so that the results could be seen when the show began to air on television. Each judge also scored each picture based on the same scale, with the total fan vote weighing the same as the vote of a judge. Furthermore, one or more eliminated contestants received the opportunity to re-enter the competition if they earned the highest overall score average over a certain period of time. The social media voting was removed beginning with cycle 22.
The social media scoring system was also implemented in the sixth and seventh cycles of Austria's Next Topmodel. In contrast to the American adaptation, each voter is required to cast their votes on the show's website with accounts that link with Facebook. Furthermore, there is no grading scale. Each Facebook account is allotted three votes, which can be spent on any combination of contestants. The contestant with the highest number of votes each round is granted immunity, while the contestant with the lowest amount is automatically nominated for elimination along with three other contestants chosen by the judges. A comeback round also takes place about two thirds into the competition.
A separate scoring system, without social media voting, was introduced in the ninth cycle of Australia's Next Top Model. The combined challenge and judge scores are used to determine who will be eliminated each week.[4] It was also the system used in the twenty-second cycle of America's Next Top Model, and adapted by other versions of the show.
The Top Model format has been adapted for numerous national and regional versions around the world.
Cycle 1, 2013–2014: Aamito Lagum
Cycle 1, 2005: Gemma Sanderson Cycle 2, 2006: Eboni Stocks Cycle 3, 2007: Alice Burdeu Cycle 4, 2008: Demelza Reveley Cycle 5, 2009: Tahnee Atkinson Cycle 6, 2010: Amanda Ware Cycle 7, 2011: Montana Cox Cycle 8, 2013: Melissa Juratowitch Cycle 9, 2015: Brittany Beattie Cycle 10, 2016: Aleyna FitzGerald
Cycle 1, 2009: Larissa Marolt Cycle 2, 2009–2010: Aylin Kösetürk Cycle 3, 2011: Lydia Obute Cycle 4, 2012: Antonia Hausmair Cycle 5, 2013: Greta Uszkai Cycle 6, 2014: Oliver Stummvoll Cycle 7, 2015–2016: Fabian Herzgsell Cycle 8, 2017: Isak Omorodion Cycle 9, 2019: Taibeh Ahmadi
Cycle 1, 2007: Mariana Velho Cycle 2, 2008: Maíra Vieira Cycle 3, 2009: Camila Trindade
Cycle 1, 2014–2015: Chan Kongkar
City (cycles 1–2) CTV (cycle 3)[9]
Cycle 1, 2006: Andrea Muizelaar Cycle 2, 2007: Rebecca Hardy Cycle 3, 2009: Meaghan Waller
Tricia Helfer (cycle 1) Jay Manuel (cycles 2–3)
Caribbean
Cycle 1, 2013: Treveen Stewart Cycle 2, 2015: Kittisha Doyle Cycle 3, 2017: Shamique Simms Cycle 4, 2018: Le Shae Riley
Sichuan TV (cycles 1–3) Travel Channel (cycle 4) Chongqing TV (cycle 5)
Cycle 1, 2008: Yin Ge Cycle 2, 2009: Meng Yao Cycle 3, 2010: Mao Chu Yu Cycle 4, 2013: Wang Xiao Qian Cycle 5, 2015: Li Si Jia
Li Ai (cycles 1–3) Shang Wenjie (cycle 4) Lynn Hung & Zhang Liang (cycle 5)
Cycle 1, 2013: Mónica Castaño Cycle 2, 2014: Yuriko Londoño Cycle 3, 2017: Alejandra Merlano
Carolina Guerra (cycle 1)[10] Carolina Cruz (cycles 2–3)[11]
Cycle 1, 2008: Sabina Behlić Cycle 2, 2010: Rafaela Franić
Kanal 4
Cycle 1, 2010: Caroline Bader Cycle 2, 2011: Julie Hasselby Cycle 3, 2012: Line Rehkopff Cycle 4, 2013: Louise Mikkelsen Cycle 5, 2014: Sarah Madsen Cycle 6, 2015: Daniel Madsen
Caroline Fleming (cycles 1–5) Cecilie Lassen (cycle 6)
Cycle 1, 2012: Helina Metsik Cycle 2, 2013–2014: Sandra Ude Cycle 3, 2014–2015: Aule Õun Cycle 4, 2015–2016: Kätlin Hallik
Cycle 1, 2012–2013: Jessica Amornkuldilok Cycle 2, 2014: Sheena Liam Cycle 3, 2015: Ayu Gani Cycle 4, 2016: Tawan Kedkong Cycle 5, 2017: Maureen Wroblewitz Cycle 6, 2018: Dana Slosar
Nadya Hutagalung (cycles 1–2) Georgina Wilson (cycle 3) Cindy Bishop (cycles 4–6)
Cycle 1, 2008: Ani Alitalo Cycle 2, 2009: Nanna Grundfeldt Cycle 3, 2010: Jenna Kuokkanen Cycle 4, 2011: Anna-Sofia Ali-Sisto Cycle 5, 2012: Meri Ikonen Cycle 6, 2017: Jerry Koivisto Cycle 7, 2022: Jarrah Kollei
Anne Kukkohovi (cycles 1–5) Maryam Razavin (cycle 6) Veronica Verho (cycle 7)
Cycle 1, 2005: Alizée Gaillard Cycle 2, 2007: Karen Pillet
Odile Sarron (cycle 1) Adriana Karembeu (cycle 2)
Cycle 1, 2012: Tako Mandaria Cycle 2, 2013: Alisa Kuzmina
Cycle 1, 2006: Lena Gercke Cycle 2, 2007: Barbara Meier Cycle 3, 2008: Jennifer Hof Cycle 4, 2009: Sara Nuru Cycle 5, 2010: Alisar Ailabouni Cycle 6, 2011: Jana Beller Cycle 7, 2012: Luisa Hartema Cycle 8, 2013: Lovelyn Enebechi Cycle 9, 2014: Stefanie Giesinger Cycle 10, 2015: Vanessa Fuchs Cycle 11, 2016: Kim Hnizdo Cycle 12, 2017: Céline Bethmann Cycle 13, 2018: Toni Dreher-Adenuga Cycle 14, 2019: Simone Kowalski Cycle 15, 2020: Jacky Wruck Cycle 16, 2021: Alex-Mariah Peter Cycle 17, 2022: Lou-Anne Gleißenebner-Teskey Cycle 18, 2023: Vivien Blotzki Cycle 19, 2024: Jermaine Kokoú Kothé & Lea Oude Engberink Cycle 20, 2025: Daniela Djokić & Moritz Rüdiger
Cycle 1, 2009–2010: Seraina Kazamia Cycle 2, 2010–2011: Cindy Toli
Cycle 1, 2018: Noune Kazaryan Cycle 2, 2019: Anna-Maria Iliadou & Katia Tarabanko Cycle 3, 2020: Hercules Chuzinov Cycle 4, 2021: Kyvéli Hatziefstratiou Cycle 5, 2022: Aléksia Trajko Cycle 6, 2025: Upcoming season
Cycle 1, 2006: Réka Nagy
Viktória Vámosi (episodes 1–11) Panni Epres (finale)[d]
Cycle 1, 2015: Danielle Canute Cycle 2, 2016: Pranati Prakash Cycle 3, 2017: Riya Subodh Cycle 4, 2018: Urvi Shetty
Cycle 1, 2005: Victoria Katzman Cycle 2, 2006: Niral Karantinaji Cycle 3, 2008: Ella Mashkautzen
Cycle 1, 2007–2008: Gilda Sansone Cycle 2, 2008: Michela Maggioni Cycle 3, 2009: Anastasia Silveri Cycle 4, 2011: Alice Taticchi
Cycle 1, 2009: Mariana Bayón Cycle 2, 2011: Tracy Reuss Cycle 3, 2012: Sahily Córdova Cycle 4, 2013: Paloma Aguilar Cycle 5, 2014: Vanessa Ponce
Cycle 1, 2017: Tserendolgor Battsengel Cycle 2, 2018-2019: Anujin BaynerdeneCycle 3, 2021-2022: Hanna Buyankhishig
Cycle 1, 2006: Sanne Nijhof Cycle 2, 2007: Kim Feenstra Cycle 3, 2007: Cecile Sinclair Cycle 4, 2008: Ananda Lândertine Cycle 5, 2011: Tamara Weijenberg Cycle 6, 2013: Nikki Steigenga Cycle 7, 2014: Nicky Opheij Cycle 8, 2015: Loiza Lamers Cycle 9, 2016: Akke Marije Marinus Cycle 10, 2017: Montell van Leijen Cycle 11, 2018: Soufyan Gnini Cycle 12, 2019: Marcus Hansma Cycle 13, 2022: Lando van der Schee Cycle 14, 2024: Gitte van Elst
Yfke Sturm (cycles 1–2) Daphne Deckers (cycles 3–5) Anouk Smulders (cycle 6–9) Anna Nooshin (cycle 10-12) Loiza Lamers (cycle 13-)
Cycle 1, 2009: Christobelle Grierson-Ryrie Cycle 2, 2010: Danielle Hayes Cycle 3, 2011: Brigette Thomas
Cycle 1, 2006: Maria Eilertsen Cycle 2, 2007: Kamilla Alnes Cycle 3, 2008: Martine Lervik Cycle 4, 2011: Claudia Bull Cycle 5, 2013: Frida Solaker
Kathrine Sørland (cycle 1) Vendela Kirsebom (cycles 2–3) Mona Grudt (cycle 4) Siri Tollerød (cycle 5)
Cycle 1, 2007: Grendel Alvarado Cycle 2, 2017: Angela Lehmann
Cycle 1, 2010: Paulina Papierska Cycle 2, 2011: Olga Kaczyńska Cycle 3, 2013: Zuza Kołodziejczyk Cycle 4, 2014: Osi Ugonoh Cycle 5, 2015: Radek Pestka Cycle 6, 2016: Patryk Grudowicz Cycle 7, 2018: Kasia Szklarczyk Cycle 8, 2019: Dawid Woskanian Cycle 9, 2020: Mikołaj Śmieszek Cycle 10, 2021: Dominika Wysocka Cycle 11, 2022: Klaudia Nieścior Cycle 12, 2023: Dominik Szymański Cycle 13, 2024: Klaudia Zioberczyk
Cycle 1, 2011: Emma Dumitrescu Cycle 2, 2011: Laura Giurcanu Cycle 3, 2012: Ramona Popescu
Cătălin Botezatu
Cycle 1, 2004: Ksenia Kahnovich Cycle 2, 2005: Svetlana Sergienko Cycle 3, 2006: Tatyana Pekurovskaya Cycle 4, 2007: Tatyana Krokhina
Fedor Bondarchuk (cycles 1–2) Alexander Tsekalo (cycle 3) Svetlana Bondarchuk (cycle 4)
Muz-TV (cycles 1–3) You-TV (cycles 4–5)
Cycle 1, 2011: Mariya Lesovaya Cycle 2, 2011: Katya Bagrova Cycle 3, 2012: Tanya Kozuto Cycle 4, 2012: Yulya Farkhutdinova Cycle 5, 2014: Evgeniya Nekrasova
Ksenia Sobchak (cycles 1–3) Irina Shayk (cycle 4) Natasha Stefanenko (cycle 5)
Cycle 1, 2005: Kine Bakke Cycle 2, 2005: Frøydis Elvenes Cycle 3, 2006: Freja Borchies
Georgianna Robertson (cycle 1) Cynthia Garrett (cycles 2–3) Anne Pedersen Mini Andén (cycles 1–2) Malin Persson (cycle 3) Kathrine Sørland
Cycle 1, 2011: Neda Stojanović
Cycle 1, 2010: Lee Jimin Cycle 2, 2011: Jin Jung-sun Cycle 3, 2012: Choi So-ra Cycle 4, 2013: Shin Hyun-ji Cycle 5, 2014: Hwang Kibbeum
Jang Yoon-ju
Cycle 1, 2007: Hawa Ahmed Cycle 2, 2012: Alice Herbst Cycle 3, 2013: Josefin Gustafsson Cycle 4, 2014: Feben Negash
Vendela Kirsebom (cycle 1) Izabella Scorupco (cycle 2) Caroline Winberg (cycles 3–4)
Cycle 1, 2018: Saviour Anosike Cycle 2, 2019: Gaby Gisler Cycle 3, 2021: Dennis de Vree
Cycle 1, 2007: He Wan Ting Cycle 2, 2008: Chen Chu Xiang
Bianca Bai Kevin Tsai
Cycle 1, 2014: Alyona Ruban Cycle 2, 2015: Alina Panyuta Cycle 3, 2016: Masha Hrebenyuk Cycle 4, 2017: Samvel Tumanyan Cycle 5, 2018: Yana Kutishevskaya Cycle 6, 2019: Malvina Chuklya Cycle 7, 2020: Tanya Bryk
Sky Living (cycles 1–9) Lifetime (cycles 10–12)
Cycle 1, 2005: Lucy Ratcliffe Cycle 2, 2006: Lianna Fowler Cycle 3, 2007: Lauren McAvoy Cycle 4, 2008: Alex Evans Cycle 5, 2009: Mecia Simson Cycle 6, 2010: Tiffany Pisani Cycle 7, 2011: Jade Thompson Cycle 8, 2012: Letitia Herod Cycle 9, 2013: Lauren Lambert Cycle 10, 2016: Chloe Keenan Cycle 11, 2017: Olivia Wardell Cycle 12, 2017: Ivy Watson
Lisa Butcher (cycle 1) Lisa Snowdon (cycles 2–5) Elle Macpherson (cycles 6–9)[e] Abbey Clancy (cycles 10–12)[f]
Cycle 1, 2003: Adrianne Curry Cycle 2, 2004: Yoanna House Cycle 3, 2004: Eva Pigford Cycle 4, 2005: Naima Mora Cycle 5, 2005: Nicole Linkletter Cycle 6, 2006: Danielle Evans Cycle 7, 2006: CariDee English Cycle 8, 2007: Jaslene Gonzalez Cycle 9, 2007: Saleisha Stowers Cycle 10, 2008: Whitney Thompson Cycle 11, 2008: McKey Sullivan Cycle 12, 2009: Teyona Anderson Cycle 13, 2009: Nicole Fox Cycle 14, 2010: Krista White Cycle 15, 2010: Ann Ward Cycle 16, 2011: Brittani Kline Cycle 17, 2011: Lisa D'Amato Cycle 18, 2012: Sophie Sumner Cycle 19, 2012: Laura James Cycle 20, 2013: Jourdan Miller Cycle 21, 2014: Keith Carlos Cycle 22, 2015: Nyle DiMarco Cycle 23, 2016–2017: India Gants Cycle 24, 2018: Kyla Coleman
Tyra Banks (cycles 1–22, 24[12])Rita Ora (cycle 23)
Cycle 1, 2010–2011: Khiếu Thị Huyền Trang Cycle 2, 2011–2012: Hoàng Thùy Cycle 3, 2012: Mai Thị Giang Cycle 4, 2013: Mâu Thị Thanh Thủy Cycle 5, 2014–2015: Tạ Quang Hùng & Nguyễn Thị Oanh Cycle 6, 2015: Nguyễn Thị Hương Ly Cycle 7, 2016: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Châu Cycle 8, 2017: Lê Thị Kim DungCycle 9, 2025: Current season
Vũ Nguyễn Hà Anh (cycle 1)[g] Nguyễn Xuân Lan(cycles 2–3, 5)Trương Ngọc Ánh (cycle 8)Phạm Thị Thanh Hằng (cycles 4, 6–7, 9)
Table notes:
The following table contains current and upcoming cycles of Top Model listed in chronological order.
Top Model at Wikinews
