The seventeenth cycle of America's Next Top Model (subtitled as America's Next Top Model: All Stars and stylized as America's Next Top Model ALL ★ STARS) premiered on September 14, 2011, on The CW.[1] It featured fourteen returning models from previous cycles.[2]
The original winner[6] of the competition was Angelea Preston, who placed third on Cycle 14, but was later disqualified, stripped of her title after it was made known that she had once worked as an escort.[7] A lawsuit was filed by Preston in 2014 for breach of contract and labor law violations but dropped in 2018.[8] The finale was re-filmed with the crowning of 30-year-old Lisa D'Amato from Los Angeles, California, who originally placed sixth on Cycle 5 making her the oldest winner at the age of 30. Allison Harvard, who originally placed second on cycle 12 losing to Teyona Anderson, placed as the runner-up for the second time.[9]
This season has been subtitled "All-Stars," featuring fourteen returning non-winning contestants representing twelve of the series' sixteen cycles for a second chance to win the title. Cycles 3, 6, 7 and 8 are all not represented. Cycles 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 were all represented by one contestant each and Cycles 5 and 11 were each represented by two contestants.[10]
Before Cycle 17 became an all-star season, early production for the cycle was a regular season. All of the American Cycle 18 contestants were all semifinalist. Production turned Cycle 17 into an all-stars season very early into production and promised the semifinalist that were new that they have a shot on being on the next cycle. AzMarie Livingston and a Cycle 16 semifinalist named Molly[11] (not to be confused with Molly O'Connell) who also auditioned and made it pass the semifinals confirmed this.
Cycle 14 contestant Angelea Preston competed for the third time on America's Next Top Model in Cycle 17 as she was initially introduced as a semi-finalist on Cycle 12 best known for her fight with Sandra Nyanchoka who finished ninth after Celia Ammerman survived the bottom two in week five. Fourth placers Bianca Golden of Cycle 9 and Dominique Reighard of Cycle 10 participated in a competition hosted by Tyra Banks for the third time as they had both appeared on Modelville which aired within The Tyra Banks Show after their original appearances on America's Next Top Model.
The following former America's Next Top Model contestants were asked to be on Cycle 17, but they all declined or did not make the final cut.[12][13][14]
The prizes for this cycle were: A fashion spread in Vogue Italia, a cover and a spread in Beauty in Vogue, a blog on Vogue.it, and a US$100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics
In addition in these regular prizes, the new prizes were: A fashion campaign in Express, a guest correspondent placement for Extra, as revealed in episode 7, the chance to be the face of an ANTM-perfume to be launched and sold nationally.
The contract with IMG Models (present in the last 2 cycles) has been removed.
The fourteen All-Stars arrived at their Los Angeles mansion. Most of them were excited to see each other, but Camille’s arrival was received with a lukewarm reception and many did not recognize Kayla. Bianca was upset that Bre, who was her friend in real life, didn’t tell her about her participation. Soon after the introductions, Mr. Jay arrived and led them to their first photo shoot in the backyard. The photo shoot would require the girls to embody the personalities that made them stars during their previous cycles. Shannon refused to use lingerie and chose a bikini instead, which made Jay confused. Also, Bianca was upset that she was getting red extensions for the photo shoot. Each model have embodied with their personalities.
After the photo shoot, the girls learnt that judging would take place in front of a live audience at the Nokia Theatre, a first for the series. Rap artist Nicki Minaj was the guest judge. At panel, Camille, Laura and Allison received good criticism from both the judges and the audience for embracing the personalities they had to portray while the crowd’s taunting of Alexandria greatly affected her. Dominique was criticised by the judges for looking totally feminine rather than being masculine-feminine. Brittany was criticised by the judges for being too safe in her shot. Isis was appreciated by the judges for her strong shot and angles. Tyra revealed that this week's decision was going to be based on both the photos and the audiences' comments. Isis' strong photo earned her the first call out (her first between both cycles), while Brittany and Alexandria landed in the bottom two. It was noted that Alexandria was the only girl with negative audience comments, but the judges deemed Brittany, who received neither positive nor negative comments, as forgettable, eliminating her despite taking a good photo.
Featured photographer: Celeste Canino
Special guest: Nicki Minaj, Michael Kanyon, The GAME, Phu Styles
The first shocking elimination alarmed many of the remaining girls, but their scare was soon overshadowed by the announcement of their impending makeovers. Many girls saw minimal changes, but Bre, Alexandria and Lisa had meltdowns over the cutting of their hair, though the latter two end up liking it. For this week’s photo shoot, the girls were each given a brand word, which they tried to personify in their photo (an advertisement for Pink's Hot Dogs) and for the rest of the competition as they are using their branding words during the photo shoot.
At their "Ty-Overs" (Short for Tyra inspired makeovers), Bre was upset due to getting short hairstyle. Alexandria was crying of happiness about her new, drastically shorter hair, which left the girls confused. At panel, many girls received praise either for their photos or for embodying their brand word well. Lisa’s devil-may-care photo and daring outfit won the judges and she received the first call-out. Conversely, Kayla and Sheena’s failure to both produce a standout photo as well as not portraying their brand well saw them in the bottom two. The judges saw more potential in Kayla eliminating Sheena.
Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari arrived at the girls’ mansion and talked to them about achieving real world success after a reality show. Next, the girls met Nigel for their reward challenge, which would require them to answer questions during an interview on Extra, conducted by Mario Lopez. The girls were divided via schoolyard pick (starting with Lisa and Bianca) into teams of six, and it was only after the groups are created that they were informed that the winning team would win immunity.
Lisa’s over-enthusiasm, Angelea’s reservations and Bianca's crudeness got the thumbs down, while Allison’s to-the-point answers, Isis’ confidence and Kayla’s sincerity got the thumbs up. In the end, the team consisting of Allison, Bianca, Bre, Camille, Kayla and Shannon won immunity, with Allison winning a guest-correspondent role on Extra for being the best overall. This week’s photo shoot saw the girls paired up (one from each of the immune and non-immune group) on stilts.
Many of the non-immune girls felt the pressure and produced stunning photos; Bianca’s fear of heights caused her to cry before the shoot, although she produced a strong shot nevertheless. At panel, Tyra noted that the non-immune were overall much better. Angelea was praised for asking Nigel to clarify how she should balance both a professional style of answering interviews while still being able to showcase her “ghetto” personality. However, her mediocre photo landed her in the bottom two with Isis. While critiquing the bottom two, Tyra noted that they were not the weakest, but because of the immunity twist, the judges had to compare who was stronger out of the two. In the end, Angelea’s photo was deemed to be marginally better, and Isis was sent home.
Featured photographer: Sarah Silver
Special guests: Kristin Cavallari, Mario Lopez, Michael Kanyon, Trey Knight
Kayla was rushed to the hospital due to a cardiac arrhythmia and mini heart attack. Afterwards, the girls convened at the studio of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and met producer Anthony Zuiker, who gave them the opportunity to audition for a role as their reward challenge. Some of the girls found it hard to memorize the long medical terms. Lisa dismayed Jay for not bringing her fire on set and ultimately forgetting all of her lines. Angelea and Bre impressed with their flawless takes, but it was Bre who ultimately won a guest starring role on a CSI episode.
For their photo shoot, the girls posed with male models for a fashion campaign in Express to embody with their different personas. At panel, Allison, Angelea, Dominique, Kayla, Laura and Shannon received good feedback. Camille was criticized for not yet producing a stellar photograph throughout the season; Alexandria's photo was deemed to be "aged" while Lisa was castigated for producing a bad film. She further irked the judges when she tried to blame the male models. Angelea received the first call-out while Camille and Lisa found themselves in the bottom two, Camille for producing a bad photograph and Lisa for complaining. Tyra handed the final photo to Lisa, Camille was sent home.
Featured photographer: Alvaro Goveia
Special guests: Anthony Zuiker, Robert David Hall, Lisa Gavales, Michael Kanyon
Shannon drew up a time allocation schedule for everyone's phone usage. Bianca noticed a flaw in the system, but when she tried to explain this to Shannon, Shannon teared up, believing that Bianca was attacking her. Lisa became involved in the disagreement, angering Bianca who felt that Lisa was not minding her own business. The girls headed to Santa Monica Beach for their runway challenge. They were tasked to walk for the Kardashian Sisters Collection, which required them to jump onto a moving carousel mid-walk. Although only one winner was intended, the sisters were unable to decide between Bre and Lisa, so both girls won an outfit from the collection. Backstage, Miss J. confronted Bianca about her negative attitude, and she explained the conflicts she was having with the other girls. This however, upset Lisa and she confronted Bianca again, but Bre managed to mediate the situation. At the photo shoot, the girls had to portray Michael Jackson through different stages of his life. La Toya Jackson was present at the shoot to help the girls embody her brother.
Most of the girls impressed La Toya, but Angelea was overwhelmed due to her love of the Jackson family. At panel, most of the girls impressed the judges, however, Angelea's photo, Bianca's bad attitude, and Lisa's attire dismayed some of the judges. Tyra surprised the girls by revealing that it was La Toya who arranged the call-out order this week. Laura received her first ever first call-out of her Top Model career. Conversely, Angelea and Lisa found themselves in the bottom two for the second time. Tyra handed the elimination proceedings over to La Toya, who explained that her brother had a loving and giving nature, and in the same vein, both girls would be staying, and neither was eliminated.
The girls were taken to the beach, where they were introduced to a charity initiative - they would be split into two teams of five, and will participate in a game of flag football. To make up the numbers, recently eliminated contestants Brittany, Sheena, Isis and Camille were invited back to join them. Each team was also joined by two players from the NFL: Julian Edelman, Jahvid Best, Kareem Jackson and Dante Hughes, with the winning team earning US$5,000 for their football players' charities. In addition, at undefined points during the match, Nigel called the girls over for a photo shoot challenge with the football players. Despite falling behind early on, the Blue team, consisting of Allison, Angelea, Bianca, Bre and Laura, won the game 14-7 (and the charity money), but it was Kayla of the Red team who performed the best at the shoot and she won a photo shoot with Andre for Tyra’s website as her prize.
Later, the girls were introduced to Coco Rocha, and discovered they would be modelling with her in pairs for their bar fight-themed photo shoot. Angelea disappointed Jay by arriving on set with low energy and after some negative feedback, left the set midway through the shoot, but returned with new life and impressed Jay. Alexandria and Bre entertained everyone with their loud screaming throughout the shoot, but Jay and Coco were concerned that they were more "actors" than "models."
At panel, the pair of Dominique and Lisa received top praise for their shoot and they earned the top two call-outs (this also marks Dominique's first ever top call-out between her two cycles), while Bianca, Angelea and Allison also impressed the panel. Alexandria and Bre landed in the bottom two for their poor performance at the shoot, and both were told that they were not living up to their standards from their original cycles, but in the end, Alexandria was spared again and Bre left the panel with no hugs.
This week's reward challenge saw the girls creating their own signature fragrances and endorsing their product in front of a live audience, greeting the public in bathtubs. Alexandria irritated some of the girls when she took a long time picking her ingredients, while Bianca refused to pose in the tub. Cycle 3 winner Eva Pigford hosted the launch party. Lisa won the challenge for her fun label and endorsement (she splashed in the tub) which granted her immunity from the next elimination.
For the photo shoot, the girls emulated reality TV stars while riding and posing on a motorcycle, each portray NeNe Leakes and Snooki, respectively. Shannon failed to portray the sassiness of her star while Kayla got distracted by screaming fans. Comedienne Kathy Griffin surprised the girls at panel with a comedic entrance. Tyra also announced an addition to this cycle's prize package - the face of the new America's Next Top Model Fragrance. Bianca became vocally defensive when questioned about her behavior during the fragrance launch party. After the deliberations, Tyra stated that she only had seven photos in her hand (meaning two girls would be going home). Lisa's immunity and her strong photo earned her another first call-out while Bianca, Kayla and Shannon landed to the bottom three, Shannon for being too safe and not standing out, Kayla for slowly regressing throughout the competition and Bianca for her bad attitude and behavior. Shannon received the last photo, Bianca and Kayla was sent home.
Featured photographer: Mike Rosenthal
Special guests: Kathy Griffin, Eva Pigford, Ben Bennett, Glenn Nutley
Mr. Jay announced that the remaining all-stars would make a music video for the week's assignment. Each of them was assigned a tune and they had 20 minutes to compose lyrics. Allison got frustrated because of her lack of a singing background. Lisa’s past song-writing experience helped her excel and ultimately won the reward challenge. The next day, Tom Polce tasked the girls to incorporate "Pot Ledom" ("Top Model" being spelled backwards) as a hook into their song.
Allison had a hard time then she managed to pull it together. After the recording, Lisa earned a visit from her fiancé Adam. Later, rapper Game guided them to film their music videos. Game was impressed by Allison’s awkwardness that shone in her video, and was touched by her dedication of the song to her late father. Her stellar video earned her the first call-out, while Alexandria and Angelea landed in the bottom two, Alexandria for her rigid and robotic movements and Angelea's lack of energy that didn’t match up to the strong lyrics of her song. Ultimately, Angelea was saved for a third time and Alexandria was sent home.
Featured director: Gretchen Warthen
Special guests: Keenan Cahill, Madison Hohrine, Tom Polce, Anita Patrickson, Adam Friedman (Lisa's Fiancé), Game
André arrived at the girls’ house and informed them that they would be travelling to Greece for the remainder of the competition. When they arrived at Athens International Airport, Miss J. and Greece's Next Top Model host Vicky Kaya tasked them to write a one-minute speech introducing themselves to the Greek Tourism dignitaries once they touch down at their Aegean Airlines flight to Crete. Almost all of the girls committed minor faux pas. Lisa was dressed inappropriately, Allison was really great, Shannon focused too much on herself, Dominique’s nervousness showed through, Laura was too excitable and Angelea signed off crudely. All these gave Allison, the only one who did not commit any errors, the challenge win. She won a piece of Lina Fanouraki jewelry. When the models arrived at their new home, they were given the opportunity to collaborate with designer Michael Cinco to design their final runway gown should they make it to the final two.
This week’s photo shoot required the girls to model lingerie while posing into a giant bowl of Greek salad. Shannon refused to pose in underwear and she sat out of the shoot, while Allison’s tearing eyes and Laura’s migraine caused discomfort at their respective shoots. At panel, Dominique’s photo was universally applauded, and while Allison’s eyes were closed in her photo, she pulled off a great shot nevertheless. Laura’s erotically-charged photo didn’t sit well with the judges, especially since they felt it was contradictory to her "lovable" brand. This caused her to land in the bottom two for the first time, together with Shannon, whom the judges appreciated for standing up for her beliefs, but in the end, the judges felt that Laura's overall performance in the competition was better, and Shannon was eliminated.
Featured photographer: Nikos Papadopoulos
Special guests: Vicky Kaya, Maria Kafetzaki, Dimitris Kounenakis, Lina Fanouraki, Michael Cinco, Georgina Wilson
The week’s reward challenge required the girls to critique and assess each other’s modelling potential. When asked who had the least amount of potential to be America’s Next Top Model, Lisa, Laura and Allison all refused to name one person, as they felt no-one was the weakest. However, Dominique said that Angelea has the least amount of potential, owing to her lack of confidence in herself. Laura agreed with Dominique and emotionally shouted at Angelea for not knowing her worth. They got into a heated argument, causing the latter to storm out in frustration. However, when asked to statistically rate each other’s overall star-quality, Allison was ranked the weakest while Laura scored the strongest, winning the challenge. After the challenge, the girls were brought out for a day of yachting, swimming, clubbing and drinks. This week’s photo shoot required the girls to portray ancient Olympic sports. Angelea initially struggled, as did Allison, although the latter later managed to redeem herself later on in the photoshoot. Lisa was initially worried about portraying long jump, as the judges complained that her photos were getting repetitive, as she kept giving shots with her legs open, although she managed to perform well.
At panel, all of the girls managed to produce good shots, albeit all were met with mixed reactions from the judges. In the end, Angelea and Dominique landed in the bottom two. The judges felt that although Dominique had taken striking photos throughout the cycle, and stronger shots than Angelea overall, she was not as memorable, and whilst Angelea had a better personality, she tended to crack under pressure. However, Angelea was given yet another chance and Dominique was eliminated.
Featured photographer: Nigel Barker
Special guests: Twylem Pyper, Maria Cristina Petrone, Michael Kanyon
This was the recap episode that highlighted scenes from the first ten episodes of the cycle. It also included some never-before-seen footage such as Angelea and Bianca arguing over a phone list but later gaining a mutual understanding, the girls questioning Isis about her transgender life, Bianca and Camille's verbal altercation over phone use, Alexandria and Allison chatting about the former’s super nice and sensitive tough person, Bre chiding Bianca for not contributing to household chores, Angelea’s fascination with Kim Kardashian’s butt, Lisa’s many crazy antics around the house, a day trip to the Greek island of Santorini, the girls celebrating Laura’s 22nd birthday, and Angelea and Laura’s Greek massage (as part of Laura’s challenge win prize from episode 10).
The final four girls were given a blog-writing challenge for Vogue Italia they had 3 hours to select an outfit, drive to a location and take a photo of themselves there, and head back to their mansion to write about Crete lifestyle and fashion. This week, instead of a regular photo shoot, the girls were required to film 2 days worth of motion editorial for Tyra’s New York Times best-selling young adult novel Modelland. Laura and Lisa excelled while Allison's watery eyes gave her problems again, and Angelea struggled due to a family crisis. After the Modelland motion editorial, Allison and Laura’s short postings are well received, while Lisa failed to talk about fashion, therefore handing Angelea her first win of the cycle. She won a 7-night return trip to Crete and a gold tiara. After the blog, supermodel Tyson Beckford joined them on the second day. At panel, in what Tyra called "one of the longest deliberations ever" (the deliberation over who would go home lasted a little over 1.5 hours), Lisa and Angelea's strong performances saved them and in turn, landed Allison and Laura in the bottom two. The judges were torn over Laura, who had a bubbly personality but impressed to take high-fashion photos, and Allison, who was opposite of Laura, she is introverted shy but had a quirkiness. In the end, Allison was saved and Laura was eliminated.
Featured director: Tony Croll
Special guests:Franca Sozzani, Tyson Beckford, Michael Kanyon, Michael Cinco
The final three girls shot their CoverGirl Intense Shadow Blast commercial and print ad. Lisa struggled to saying "oh yes", and the strong light once again caused problems for Allison's watery eyes, although both managed to pull off commendable efforts in the end, while Angelea did well in both. The girls then were photographed for Vogue Italia. All three did a good job, and then it was time for the final runway show. For the final runway show, the final three wore personally-customized gowns by Michael Cinco, and were joined by previously eliminated girls Shannon, Dominique and Laura. The elaborate theatrics of the show required the girls to swim underwater, do a quick-change, fly in the air and walk to their music video song from episode 8. Angelea cried shortly before the show started due to the pressure. All three finalists faced minor runway faux pas - Lisa accidentally swam to the side of the pool (instead of the ramp at the centre) to fix her mask, which fell off as the result of trying to do a flip underwater, Angelea had problems remaining underwater and Allison impressed to control with her dress due to the gushing wind.
At panel, it was revealed that Angelea was disqualified by production for unspecified reasons, and that the judging was now back in Los Angeles. For the CoverGirl print ad, Allison's photo was criticized for failing to “smize” and looking vacant, while Lisa's was applauded for being alluring and flirtatious. Both were impressed for their CoverGirl commercial - Allison was too introverted while Lisa impressed to showcase her personality. For the final runway, Allison's graceful swimming was lauded, as was Lisa's command of her dress, but Allison was disparaged for her strong runway walk and Lisa for her swimming fiasco. In the final deliberations, the judges agreed that both Allison and Lisa had personified their brands (“unique” and “daring” respectively). The merits and drawbacks of both finalists were discussed - Allison was loved by photographers and designers alike as both a model and a muse but however, her introverted personality would deem her inappropriate for the role of an Extra correspondent. Lisa's sassy and outgoing personality, as well as her progress of refinement throughout the course of the competition was appreciated, as was her superior runway walk and confidence. It was noted that whilst Lisa's may not have been the best model, she was an all-rounder, being a good singer, performer, entertainer, actress, celebrity and would easily command attention on the red carpet – a vital attribute for an Extra correspondent. However, her personality could easily come off as too tough and conceited. In the end, the second half of Modelland was shown, which revealed Lisa as the winner of America’s Next Top Model: All Stars. Lisa is the second girl (after America's Next Top Model Cycle 8 Winner Jaslene Gonzalez) in the show's history to compete on more than one cycle and win.
Featured photographers: Nikos Papadopoulos, Dusan Reljin
Special guests: Paige Cali, Michael Kanyon, Valentina Serra, Michael Cinco
Episode 13 photo shoot and commercial: CoverGirl Intense Shadow Blast print ad and Commercial, and Beauty in Vogue spread
Angelea's disqualification
Following the finale, reports began to speculate regarding the disqualification of Angelea Preston. Due to the bizarre circumstances surrounding the event, including the re-shooting of the final panel/winner reveal, many people began to speculate that Preston had been originally named the winner prior to her disqualification. Popular theories that circulated on social media during the months following the finale included speculation that Angelea had broken contract by revealing her win on social media, that she was pregnant, or dealing with substance abuse issues.
In January 2013, Angelea confirmed the reports by announcing that she had indeed won the competition prior to being stripped of the title, though she did not specify why.[29] Tyra Banks did not comment on the situation.
In September 2014, Angelea revealed that the reason she was stripped of the title was because she had been working as an escort prior to participating in America's Next Top Model. She said the producers had been made aware of this before the filming of cycle 17, but decided to disqualify her only after she had already won the title. She is now filing a lawsuit against the producers, the network, and the studios due to breach of contract for $3,000,000 in damages.[30] Other allegations in the lawsuit included that the show violated fair labor practices by forcing her and other contestants to work 16-hour days, sometimes without a meal break, keeping the contestants in isolation for five to six hours at a time, without food or water. Additionally, she alleged that she wasn't paid a legal hourly wage for her work, nor overtime wages. She also claimed that show staff failed to provide her with proper medical attention when she suffered a panic attack during filming.[31][32]
^In episode 3, the team of Allison, Bianca, Bre, Camille, Kayla and Shannon won the challenge and received immunity from elimination as the prize. Allison was chosen as the best of the group and won an extra prize as a result. At panel, the six immune girls were judged separately from the non-immune group.
^In episode 5, the call-out order was decided entirely by guest judge La Toya Jackson. Angelea and Lisa were called forward as the bottom two before Jackson announced neither of them would be eliminated.
^In episode 7, Lisa won the challenge and received immunity from elimination as the prize; however, this did not influence her place in the call-out order. Bianca, Kayla and Shannon were called forward as the bottom three. Tyra handed the last photo to Shannon, eliminating the other two.
^In episode 9, Shannon did not participate in the photo shoot.
^In episode 13, Angelea originally won the competition; however, she was then disqualified from the competition and the finale was reshot. Lisa and Allison were then revealed as the winner and runner-up, respectively.
