The seventh cycle of Holland's Next Top Model premiered on 1 September 2014 on RTL5. This was the second cycle of the series to be hosted by Anouk Smulders. Previous judges Sharon Mor Yosef and Sabine Geurten did not return for the new cycle. They were replaced by photographer Dirk Kikstra and magazine editor May-Britt Mobach, respectively. Fred van Leer remained in place as a mentor for the contestants.
The prizes for this cycle included a modelling contract with Touché Models valued at €50,000, an online feature in the style and fashion website Amayzine.com, replacing the sponsorship of the show's magazine, Glamour, and a brand new Renault Twingo.
The show scrapped the previous cycle's apartment reward for the best performing contestants, but still maintained the new elimination format.
The show once again held a separate wildcard contest, sponsored by Colgate, to choose an additional 13th contestant. Applicants were allowed to apply for the contest on the show's website, where the twenty-five candidates with the most votes from the public would be considered for a spot on the show. The winner of the search was 21 year-old Sanne de Roo from Groningen, who joined the 12 other finalists during the filming of the opening titles in episode 1.
During the cycle's live final, the position of the fourth and third placing contestants was decided through a consensus of the judges, while the viewer vote determined the winner from the remaining two contestants.
The judges made their selection for the final 12 at a mass casting, and later visited each finalist to break the good news. The contestants then met for the first time and learned that they would be heading off to New York sometime in the coming weeks. Aisha, Debbie, Holly, June and Nicky received makeovers, and the models moved into a run-down warehouse loft in anticipation for the trip to New York City. They later filmed the show's opening sequence. At the end of the week they were shown a final cut of the footage, and learned that a 13th model would be joining the competition. Anouk introduced the contestants to Sanne, who had been chosen as a wildcard through the show's website. At the end of the episode, Quinty was eliminated from the competition.
The contestants had an extreme posing lesson with choreographer Roy Julen, and were sent on a casting for fashion and lifestyle brand JOSH V, where designer Josh Veldhuizen selected Aisha, Sanne, June, Roos, Liz, Allison, Debbie, and Holly to walk in one of her upcoming shows. The models were later taken to a landfill, and had a couture photo shoot with photographer Andres de Lara modeling creations by Winde Rienstra. At elimination, Aniek, Roos, and Sagal landed in the bottom three. Sagal and Roos were given another chance, and Aniek was eliminated from the competition.
Special guests: Roy Julen, Josh Veldhuizen, Annic van Wonderen, Winde Rienstra
The contestants were taken to the Van Ghent Kazerne academy to receive boot camp training from one of the sergeants. Lincey was deemed to be the best performer. The remaining models were later given makeovers at the Jeffrey Janssen salon, while Aisha, Debbie, Holly, June, and Nicky received a visit from reporter Anette Baksen for interviews. On set, the models were harnessed in the air wearing designs by Liselore Frowijn in a CGI photo shoot meant to advertise the new Renault Twingo. At panel, Roos and Sagal landed in the bottom two, and left the competition in a surprise double elimination.
Special guests: Jeffrey Janssen, Anette Baksen
Featured photographer: Ruud Baan
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"Episode 4"
22 September 2014 (2014-09-22)
The remaining nine contestants were flown to New York City, and moved into their new loft. They were later taken to The Skylark Lounge, and met cycle 4 finalist Patricia van der Vliet, who shared her work experience with the models and critiqued their runway walks. The models also had a go-sees challenge with Trump Model Management and Nicole Miller, which was won by Nicky, and had a self-directed nighttime glam photo shoot in Times Square where they were photographed by judge Dirk Kikstra. At elimination, Allison and Holly landed in the bottom two, and Allison became the fifth contestant to leave the competition.
Special guests: Patricia van der Vliet, Freek Koster, Nicole Miller
The contestants received a runway lesson at Central Park from catwalk coach Mac Folkes, and had a two-part casting challenge with Yentl cosmetics and designer Jay Godfrey. Liz was chosen as the winner for the Yentl casting, while Aisha was deemed as the best performer during the casting for Jay Godfrey, and was chosen to walk in his upcoming show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. The models later had a photo shoot at a fire station for Colgate with photographer Marco Marezza where they had to pose with male models. At elimination, Holly and Lincey were eliminated from the competition.
Special guests: Mac Folkes, Natalie Joos, Dimitri Hyacinthe, Jay Godfrey, Emilie Tollison
The contestants were introduced to director Cycy Sanders, and were sent out on the streets to shoot personalized video clips for their next challenge. Nicky was chosen as the winner, and received the opportunity to shoot a video with Sanders. The models were later taken to a construction site, and found out that they would be shooting a campaign for Zinzi jewelry on a rooftop while hanging from a circus ring. Cycle 2 winner Kim Feenstra made an appearance on set to coach the models during their shoot. At elimination, Aisha, June, and Liz landed in the bottom three, and June was eliminated from the competition.
The final five arrived at the Diane von Furstenberg store, where they were introduced to celebrity stylist Anita Patrickson for an in-depth critique of their outfits. They then had to restyle themselves with clothing from the store, and attended a casting for American Apparel, which was won by Sanne. As her prize, she was given a shopping spree for two which she chose to share with Aisha. On the day of the shoot the models were taken to the beach, and were photographed topless wearing pearl necklaces. At elimination, Nicky advanced directly to the finale. Debbie, Sanne, and Aisha quickly followed suit, and Liz was eliminated from the competition.
Special guests: Anita Patrickson, Johnny Umansky, Andi Elloway
Featured photographer: Frédéric Pinet
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"Episode 8"
20 October 2014 (2014-10-20)
The models sat with host Anouk Smulders and reminisced about the events leading up to the final, and the show took a closer look at the day-to-day lives of the four finalists as they prepared for the cycle's live finale.
The judges explained the new voting system for the finale, in which they would be responsible for eliminating the first two finalists, and the public would choose the winner out of the two remaining contestants. The finalists performed in a series of live runway shows alongside the previously eliminated contestants, and the show went over footage of the models performing in a cover photo shoot for Amayzine.com in which they had to embody different iconic supermodels. After the final results were shown, Aisha was eliminated from the competition. She was followed by Debbie later that night. The SMS voting began, and at the end of the night, Nicky was crowned as the winner.
