Australia's Next Top Model (season 7)

The seventh cycle of '' Australia's Next Top Model'' began airing on 8 August 2011 on Fox8.

The prizes for this cycle included a modelling contract with Chic Model Management, replacing the previous association with Priscilla's Model Management, a cash prize of $20,000 sponsored by TRESemmé, a brand new Ford Fiesta, an overseas trip to New York City to meet with NEXT Model Management, and an editorial spread along with the cover of ''Harper's Bazaar'' Australia.

The winner of the competition was 17-year-old Montana Cox from Melbourne, Victoria. This marked the final series of ''Australia's Next Top Model'' hosted by Sarah Murdoch, as she departed the show several months after the cycle's finale.

Series summary

Twenty semi-finalists were ultimately chosen out of 100 applicants from across Australia, who were selected for a casting in the first week of the competition. After the second episode, the number of contestants was reduced to sixteen, who then resided in their designated house in Sydney throughout the production period from May to August 2011.

Requirements

All contestants had to be aged 16 or older to be eligible for the show. Those auditioning were required to have a minimum height of at least tall. To qualify, all applicants had to be Australian citizens residing in Australia. Additional requirements stated that contestants should not have had prior experience as a model in a national campaign within the last five years. If a contestant was represented by an agent or a manager, she had to terminate that representation prior to the competition.

Auditions

Auditions were held on 24 January in Darwin, 27 January in Melbourne, 28 January in Adelaide, 30 January in Perth, 3 and 5 February in Sydney, and on 12 February 2011 in Brisbane (delayed from 22 January due to the floods that devastated the city).

Cast

Contestants

''(Ages stated are at start of contest)''

Judges

* Sarah Murdoch (host)
* Alex Perry
* Charlotte Dawson

Other cast members

* Josh Flinn – style director, model mentor

Episodes

Results

: The contestant was eliminated
: The contestant won the competition

Controversy

There was some controversy surrounding the show following comments made by Alex Perry regarding the body of one of the contestants. 18-year-old Alissandra Moone from Perth was criticised by Perry, who compared her body to "overstuffed luggage" after seeing one of her photos in the fourth episode of the series. Fans of the show immediately took to social media after the episode aired to express their outrage, to which Perry replied that he had been referring to Moone's posing skills in a confined space, and not her body. The model was ultimately eliminated the following episode, in which she'd been unable to fit into a size 10 dress for a photo shoot and had to have her photo taken as a close-up. During the episode's deliberation, Perry stated that he wasn't looking for "Australia's next top head". Perry went on to explain, "As a model, no matter what environment you're shooting in, you need to be able to make it work, and she didn't. In regards to her elimination, models need to be able to fit into sample size dresses. She was given a standard size 10 dress to wear and could not fit into it."

When questioned over Perry's comments, Moone stated "It's a very bad message to be sending to young girls who watch the show. It's harsh. It's stupid. And it's out of touch. I understand it's a reality of the industry but this is a TV show and they should have a responsibility to censor that kind of thing. I know this has happened to other girls in the past but I was shocked when he said I was too fat. I'm only a size eight. There's going to be a lot of young girls watching this who are bigger than me, and how's this going to make them feel? I understand it's probably a reality of the industry but no one likes to be told they look fat - regardless of what job you are in, I have never thought of myself as fat. I am a health freak. I go to the gym and eat well."

There was also some backfire from animal rights group PETA over the prominent use of animal fur in one of the photo shoots of the series. Foxtel defended the shoot, with a spokeswoman explaining that it had been inspired by Native American culture. The representative stated "It is a trend and idea borrowed from a past culture. Foxtel, ANTM producers, host (Sarah Murdoch) and the judges in no way condone the ongoing practice of producing fashion items using real fur." Prior to this, the show had already met criticism over its use of fur in a shoot for the previous cycle.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
(archive at the Wayback Machine)

{{Australia's Next Top Model

2011 Australian television seasons
Australia's Next Top Model seasons
Television shows filmed in Australia
Television shows filmed in France
Television shows filmed in the United Arab Emirates