[Amy Jade]

iirc didn't Eugena win a challenge and an asian lady said her name really funny? that used to get played all the time in my group vid chats it used to crease me idkw

[Saph]

didnt she say it like "you-sheena"

[Gstar]

Originally Posted by Saph

oh yeah Eugena was the last ever playboy playmate of the year to be chosen by Hugh Hefner before he died, iconic!

Slay! Eugena was also in Bruno Mars’s “Nothin’ on You” video. A song that ended up topping the hot 100, we love her impact!

[Saph]

iconic remember when Monique was in Ne-Yo's Miss Independent video? lmao

[Headie]

Youtube video

[Headie]

Melrose having a meltdown when Cari-Dee ripped her dress sksk

[Saph]

4th - Cycle 9 (2007)

just missing out on a top 3 placing is the ever controversial cycle 9, imo a very underrated cycle that was tainted by bad press and negativity in the fanbase. For casting, the girls were flown to the Caribbean where they stayed on a luxury cruise ship. We were introduced to girls like Heather who had aspergers syndrome, Bianca with her red weave, Saleisha who had already met Tyra from attending her T-Zone camp, Yale educated Victoria, southern belle Janet and one of my favourites who never made the cut was Spontanious



Ebony rubbed a lot of girls up the wrong way during casting, including cycle 10s Marvita after Ebony had said "lets play a game and see who has an eating disorder". Marvita replied "when was your last damn meal, because you look anorexic" Tyra told Ebony that a lot of the girls had said they didnt like her, in a very Eva cycle 3 type moment.



The girls first photoshoot was the side effects of smoking where they had to pose with two separate looks, one glamorous smoking shot and one with a side effect reflected in the mirror. Mila was given that awful side effect with the balding hair and she couldnt keep it together on set, so was ultimately eliminated.



For the girls runway lesson they had to go to Miss Js asylum and walk in straight jackets, probably one of the best runway lessons they've done on the show.



Bianca had that iconic fight with Saleisha after Saleisha was bragging about her accomplishments in the modelling industry. Saleisha quipped "your mouth aint gonna get you into modelling" to which Bianca replied "my mouth can get me anywhere!". She also added "for real, you look like a Bratz doll" and of course as Saleisha was walking away we got the iconic "you're borderline plus size, check ya thighs in the mirror, and im done!" nnn



Chantal then got involved and her and Bianca had a face to face war of words and had to be separated by other girls. Later at the photoshoot, Bianca then decided Lisa was her next fight and told her "you really think americas next top models gonna be an exotic dancer? what a role model, grow up go home!" and we got this iconic fight..



At the makeovers, Tyra brought out this big screen and had the girls see their makeovers appear digitally on their promo shots. The actual makeovers of course looked nothing like the digital shots Biancas weave was so worn and tatty they decided to just shave her entire head (and give her that horrible blonde wig). Lisa was given that short poodle hair and of course Saleisha got the iconic mushroom weave.



Heather had a tough time fitting in a lot of the time, the other girls would often tease her, Bianca especially. There was that scene where Heather had been waiting to use the phone for ages and just as it was free, Bianca pushed in and took it



At panel each week, Victoria would snap at Twiggy every time she gave her critique, the final time being when Victoria was given the cactus for the plant photoshoot and Twiggy started with "I think its funny you were given the cactus because" before Victoria interrupted her with "can I get one thing straight.. I dont have a prickly disposition" needless to say she was eliminated that week.



After being critiques about her posture and for not smiling, Ebony decided that she wanted to quit the competition, and when Ambreal was eliminated, Ebony (who had obviously been told to do it during the elimination for good TV) told Tyra she wanted to go. Tyra replied with "theres nothing more unattractive to me than a quitter"

The girls also had the muse runway where each girl was paired with a designer and they had to create a design and give a speech on the runway about how they were the muse for their designer. Heather forgot her words on stage and was just a huge mess. Saleisha did that annoying giggle and wink and Bianca, in her Cleopatra inspired outfit gave the line, "cleopatras got a bit of an attitude" and did her walk.



The girls also had to do a music video shoot (the first since Tyras in cycle 2) for Enrique Iglasias for his song Tired of Being Sorry. Sarah was eliminated because the judges felt she had LOST too much weight and wasnt plus size anymore

Youtube video

The final 6 girls went to Shanghai where they did go-sees around the city. Heather ends up getting lost after losing her cab and wonders around the streets by herself for hours and is ultimately disqualified from the challenge



During the final 4 challenge, the girls were each given a traditional Chinese dress and had to shop around a shopping center with a small budget each to buy some accessories. While the girls are all frantically rushing around, Bianca finds an area with no shops across from the main shopping center, she sees Jenah and tells her to go shop over there because they have so much stuff skjdsksj.. Jenah wonders over and realises Bianca just played her..



The final 4 do a photoshoot on the Great Wall of China shot by Tyra. Bianca is eliminated that week leaving us with Saleisha, Jenah and Chantal who go on to do their covergirl commercials. At the final 3 panel, the girls are asked who should go home and why. Chantal and Saleisha both pick Jenah with Chantal saying she wouldn't want her little sisters looking up to someone like her.. oop.. Jenah then breaks down to the judges and gives her speech about not feeling the need to spew rainbows like Chantal and Saleisha to have a personality. Tyra tells Jenah shes proud of her and thinks shes found her true self ...then eliminates her



Chantal and Saleisha do the final runway, where they have to walk on the grounds of a giant Chinese palace in Beijing, surrounded by performers on tall stilts. One of the stilt people get caught on Chantals long train of fabric and slips. This was probably the deciding factor that justified Tyra to give Saleisha the win. Imo neither of these two deserved to win, Jenah, Heather, Bianca and even Lisa all had stronger photos. The elimination order overseas seemed to get very mixed up.

Apart from the outcome, this cycle was a hoot and always one of my favourites to re-visit.

Cycle ranking: 9/10

[Saph]

I also found this now iconic photo of Ebony with Tiffany Pollard

[Headie]

I want the uncut footage of Victoria taking her heels off after her elimination and Tyra calling security over because she thought she was gonna throw them at her

Also Jenah said in an AMA on reddit the other week that Bianca and Heather were actually really close but they didn't show it in the edit

[Saph]

I think I remember years ago Heather said something about her and Bianca being good friends too I wonder if Bianca saw it like that

[Gstar]

Cycle 9 - When skinny jeans were at the forefront of fashion

Iconic cycle and glad it was rated high. You were right about the cycles being good when they go to Asia, there’s always that added bit of effort (the final 4 girls going to another house)

[Gstar]

I can’t call the top 3! I’m glad that my favourite season hasn’t been called yet

[Gstar]

Bianca is a school teacher now so I guess she always had that mother role deep inside her

[Saph]

not Miss Golden!

[Captain.Remy]

Bianca a teacher? We stan that turn around lmao

The biggest legacy of that cycle is Saleisha's mushroom haircut which somehow was used on many fashion shows I remember a forum where users could gather all girls in the fashion industry with mushroom cuts after the show

But yeah...top 3 should have been Jenah, Heather and Bianca

[Captain.Remy]

And "check ya thighs in the mirror, and im done!" is second to "This is not America's next top best friend"

[Headie]

Cycle 3, 4 and 6 being the top three is absolutely correct

[Captain.Remy]

I actually would have put cycle 16 in top 5. The photoshoots, the potential and the drama was there. It was really enjoyable, and gave us one of the strongest winners. Too bad she quit modelling which earned her the "Quittany" nickname in the fandom.

About cycle 19: we stan a third place ending up being the most successful model ouf of the franchise (alongside Fatima). Leila is booked and busy!

[Saph]

3rd - Cycle 4 (2005)



To kick off the top 3 we have the absolute classic Cycle 4! After the whirlwind that was cycle 3, this cycle had a lot to live up to, and it certainly did not disappoint.

This cycles casting episode introduced us to Tiffany who returned from cycle 3 after not making the cut for getting involved in a bar fight. Brita who was 25 but in her head thought she looked 14, Noelle who had a kid and liked to mention it every 9 seconds, Lluvy who was a former gang member, Brandi and her red afro wig who were all kinds of messy, Brittany who looked like Janice Dickinsons daughter and more.



We also met one of castings most memorable girls who never made it with Jessika aka 'Lady Kat', who not only crawled like a cat for her runway but also got attacked by bees in a park.



For the girls first photoshoot they were shot by Nigel Barker, with Janice and Nolé also on set to help (or not). Brandy was one of the last girls to shoot and after Nigel went to talk to her she gave him attitude and pretty much solidified herself a place in the bottom 2 before even doing her shoot



For some reason they gave all the girls makeovers this cycle, Sarah got her hair cut short to a 'peter pan' look (which looked awful), Brandy was told she was keeping her red wig and after throwing a tantrum was told it would be removed. Michelle had her hair bleached platinum blonde and we found out from the Jays recently that the reason her head hurt so much was because she had shampood her hair that morning.



This infection led to one of the funniest moments on the show when the girls thought she had a flesh eating bacterial disease. Noelle's mother had told her it was all over the news, so she went and told the other girls and it spread around the house. Other girls asked friends and family if they'd heard about it and they all said yes they had, causing more drama. Tiffanys grandmother told her she needed to get a life and read a book which was iconic.

@4:45

Youtube video

The girls also did a challenge with a fake angry photographer where they had to take a photo playing tennis. Even though he rubbed the girls up the wrong way, it was in the waiting area where the real drama happened when Tatianna (who for some reason was laying under a table) made a comment to Brandy which caused her to go off at her.



We also had the controversial 'got milk' photoshoot where the girls had to be made into a different race holding a baby. Michelle was given a fake baby because of her skin disease There was also the zodiac shoot where each girl had to portray a different star sign. Lluvy gave us one of the worst photos of all time with her Pisces photo.



this was also the iconic episode where Rebecca fainted during panel, just after the guest judge said to her "I didnt feel your presence" Nolé saying "call the police" was iconic



The girls also had a fight with shaving foam for some reason nn


Then of course came the most iconic moment in antm history, when Tyra double eliminated Rebecca and Tiffany in what was already a shocker, the even bigger shock came when Tyra completely went in on Tiffany. I dont even need to talk about this because we ALL know it off by heart now.



Kahlen gets news from home that a close friend of hers had died and that same day the girls have to do a 7 deadly sins photoshoot where they have to pose deep inside graves.



The final 6 girls went to South Africa, which was 1 in only 2 times (the other being Cycle 16) that the girls have gone to Africa. Before posing with Mary the model crocodile, the girls went on a safari where they saw a bunch of wild animals. The biggest scream came when they had to go through the lion area and the safari rangers told the girls they all had to be silent so they dont disturb the lions, so they all look to Brittany, who makes growling noises, causing the lions to start chasing the open van

Youtube video

Later that night, Brittany, Keenyah and Christina got to stay at a 'luxury' villa while Naima, Kahlen and Michelle had to camp outside. The girls in the luxury hotel got plagued by insects all night, even in the hot tub



During a photoshoot with African male models, one of them starts breathing all over Keenyah and making her uncomfortable, when she stops the shoot and says something, Mr Jay just tells her to carry on sksk

On top of this, Keenyah also had to deal with gaining weight during the show. The fact that she was given gluttony as a deadly sin and then made to be the elephant in another shoot was shady



Keenyah and Brittanys friendship was put to the test during this time. The two had been close from the start but Brittany was starting to get on Keenyas nerves and after the whole drama about Naima opening Nelson Mandelas cell, Keenyah had gotten on Brittanys nerves too. The two had a big falling out which peaked in the cab when Brittany shouted "SHUT UUUUUUUUP" in Keenyahs face



In the end, the final 2 were Naima and Kahlen. This one was pretty close it really could've been either of them, although I think Naima had more of a general model look about her.

Overall this series was just full of iconic moments.. each episode there was something new. Tiffany getting drunk and throwing up under the table of a fancy restaurant was a scream. Brandy in general was a scream. Also the judging tests from this cycle were so bad but good, like the iconic "can you say magnetic" prompt reading one

Cycle Ranking: 10/10

[Headie]

"Tippity top models... Tiffany... Keenyah... and some other girls!"

[Captain.Remy]

The final runway on water was the most iconic of them all tbh It was so good and both girls were very strong.

[Amy Jade]

Originally Posted by Saph

didnt she say it like "you-sheena"

Yes! literally used to make me howl

[Macie Lightfoot]

I'm personally offended at 9 and 7 being higher than 8

[Captain.Remy]

The suspense is killing me! Where are you Saph?
She's probably learning how to smize and booty tooch in front of her mirror

[Jigs]

Cycle 4 is my absolute fav. An incredible top two of 3+6 though! I couldn't call it.