"You wanna be on top?" Tyra Banks made those famous five words stick since she launched America's Next Top Model in 2003. The reality competition has spanned close to 25 seasons and over 30 versions of the show have been produced worldwide. Whether you love or hate the show, it has launched the careers of many models who have appeared in the competition. Some of them didn't even have to be crowned the top model to find success after the show. So, which former contestants have been the most successful thus far? Many of the former top model contestants have either gone on to have careers as models, actresses, reality TV stars, or TV personalities.
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00:00With its debut in 2003, America's Next Top Model has gone on to become one of the most
00:05popular reality competitions on TV.
00:07Even after its jump from The CW to VH1, the show has launched many stunning careers.
00:12So where are they now?
00:14These are the most successful top models ever.
00:16Lisa D'Amato
00:17Cycle 5's Lisa D'Amato was known for stirring up the drama.
00:19I think, slowly but surely, I think I'm becoming more of a threat to the other girls."
00:24And in 2011, she went on to win the All-Star Cycle.
00:27Since her time on the show, D'Amato has kept herself busy doing even more reality TV.
00:31In 2010, she checked into Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, and two years later, she starred
00:36in her own pilot titled My Name Is Lisa.
00:38In 2016, D'Amato and her husband, Hollywood entrepreneur Adam Friedman, appeared on WE
00:43TV's Marriage Boot Camp reality stars.
00:46Reality Blurred reported that she landed a deal on Shark Tank for her food storage bib,
00:49Dare U Go.
00:50But D'Amato's true passion lies in making music.
00:52In 2009, she released her debut album La Puccinetta, which she followed up with Flippin'
00:57the Bird.
00:58Yaya DaCosta
00:59Yaya DaCosta may have been the runner-up on Cycle 3, but her career post-show has been
01:02nothing short of incredible.
01:03Two years after Top Model, she made her feature film debut in 2006's Take the Lead, and has
01:08had recurring roles on Chicago Med, All My Children, and Ugly Betty, along with a starring
01:12role in 2015's Whitney.
01:14DaCosta has also been outspoken about representation in the industry.
01:17The Afro-Latina actress told The Griot in 2019,
01:20It's nice that people are actually realizing what Latin America actually looks like."
01:27But she acknowledged that the work needs to happen everywhere in the industry.
01:30There have to be writers and producers and directors hiring and insisting on that representation."
01:36Cycle 5's Cassandra Jean Whitehead famously dropped out of the series after she received
01:40a hair makeover she didn't like.
01:42It was the last straw in them completely trying to change who I was."
01:46Whitehead grew her hair back, and then went to work in TV, where she had several small
01:49screen appearances in One Tree Hill, Mad Men, and Arrow.
01:53But where the former model really lucked out, though, is in love.
01:56In December 2012, she married Arrow star Stephen Amell, and the couple welcomed their first
02:00child that October.
02:01Danny Evans
02:02Danny Evans was the winner of Cycle 6, narrowly beating out Joni Dodds.
02:06After her time on the show, Evans walked the runway for several big names in fashion, and
02:10she's been featured in ad campaigns for CoverGirl, Academics, and Sephora.
02:13In 2013, Evans became a published author with her book The Skinny on Getting In, an inside
02:18peek into the fashion world for the aspiring model.
02:20The book acted as both a memoir, as well as something of a how-to for young models trying
02:24to break into the industry.
02:25In 2016, she told Sports Illustrated that her inspiration came from the response she
02:29received after her top model win, from fans curious about how to break into modeling.
02:33She offered,
02:34"...being confident and knowing how to dress, and this business is key."
02:40Eva Marcille
02:41Eva Marcille launched her modeling career by winning Cycle 3.
02:42After the show, Marcille hit the small screen, with roles in Smallville, The Young and the
02:46Restless, House of Payne, and Real Husbands of Hollywood.
02:49But it wasn't until 2018 that she fully embraced the housewives' life, by signing on to The
02:53Real Housewives of Atlanta.
02:54"...so thank you, excuse me, and good day."
02:57But the model and actress wasn't only interested in making a living on camera, and in 2018,
03:01she launched her home design collection.
03:03"...I'm just trying to dabble in other things, but more so things that are real for me."
03:08Marcille told People magazine,
03:09"...my goal is to give women an oasis with warm patterns and comfortable fabrics for
03:13an easy getaway from life.
03:14Enhancing your living space is therapeutic, and our prints make for a calming environment."
03:18Takara Jones
03:19"...Hi, I'm the fabulous Takara, I'm a plus-size supermodel of the world."
03:24Takara Jones didn't make it terribly far into her season of Top Model, but that doesn't
03:27mean she didn't have a lasting impression.
03:29After Cycle 3, Jones appeared on TV in Are We There Yet?, In the Cut, and Celebrity Paranormal
03:34Project.
03:35But the model, who had her fair share of ups and downs in an effort to prove herself as
03:38more than just plus-size, has gone on to do just that.
03:41In 2008, she appeared in the all-black issue of Vogue Italia.
03:44Photographer Stephen Mizell said of her via The New York Times,
03:47"...I wanted to say something about weight, and I'm never allowed to do that.
03:50I met Takara and thought, she's beautiful, what's the deal with her?"
03:53The following year, Jones appeared in the BET's Rip the Runway fashion show, and she's
03:57since gone on to design her own intimate apparel line.
04:00Nel DeMarco
04:01Nel DeMarco was the first deaf model to win America's Next Top Model, during Cycle 22.
04:05But he claimed that being deaf actually worked to his advantage, saying,
04:07"...being deaf has definitely been a strength for me in this competition, just because American
04:11sign language requires a lot of facial expression and using your body, and that's what modeling
04:15requires also."
04:16In 2019, Out reported that DeMarco had been tapped for a role on the Grey's Anatomy spinoff
04:21Station 19 as a deaf firefighter.
04:23But DeMarco's acting career is only a small portion of what he's been up to these days.
04:27On top of spearheading the Nile DeMarco Foundation, which works to, quote, "...improve the lives
04:30of every deaf person in the world," he's also started a production company specifically
04:34focused on deaf filmmakers, telling La Fisial in 2019,
04:38I think Hollywood is finally listening and becoming more aware of the extreme lack of
04:41representation, but there is a lot of work still to do.
04:45Although she was initially reluctant to audition for the show, Cycle 11's Isis King took a
04:49chance after doing background work the previous season.
04:52She told Johnny McGovern on Hey Queen that before she had gotten encouragement from some
04:55of the other girls, she was thinking,
04:56"...I didn't want to go on originally.
04:58I was like, I don't know if they're just trying to use me or what."
05:01The time she spent on A&TM proved to be meaningful for both King and the larger LGBTQ community.
05:07The first-ever trans model to appear on the show has gone on to become a prominent voice
05:10for trans rights.
05:11As of mid-2019, she serves on the board of the Ali Forney Center, an organization dedicated
05:16to helping homeless LGBTQ youth.
05:19And according to HuffPost, she's the only board member who's actually gone through the
05:22system.
05:23A true success story.
05:24Lila Goldkuhl
05:25Lila Goldkuhl's appearance on Cycle 19 had its ups and downs.
05:28After being eliminated during the fifth week, Goldkuhl wound up winning a second chance
05:31to be in the competition via a social media vote.
05:34Once back on the show, she nearly won the season, landing in third place.
05:38After the show, Goldkuhl went on to work in high fashion.
05:40In 2016, she made her runway debut at Givenchy's Spring Show in New York City.
05:44And a year later, Goldkuhl walked in Fashion Week for Chanel, Nina Ricci, and Tom Ford.
05:49By 2018, she was recognized as one of the 50 Greatest Models in the World.
05:53Pretty impressive.
05:54"...like this big, like, whirlwind, I guess, because one day, nothing could be happening,
06:00and then the next day, something massive is happening."
06:02Donna Lee Tipton
06:03Donna Lee Tipton was one of America's Next Top Model's earlier successes.
06:05When she placed third in Cycle 11, Tyra Banks told her,
06:08"'Paulina thinks that you are a star actress that can get a lot of modeling campaigns.
06:14We think that that's probably the direction that you should go.'"
06:17Tipton certainly took the advice to heart.
06:19A few years after the show, she landed roles in Crazy Stupid Love and The Green Hornet.
06:23By 2014, she was cast as the lead in the series Manhattan Love Story, and she's seen steady
06:27on-screen work ever since.
06:29In 2019, Deadline reported that Tipton had signed with ICM Partners.
06:33And of her newfound acting cred, Tipton told Brieftake,
06:35"'I think that people still see me as the crazy stupid love babysitter and it's been
06:39interesting trying to showcase myself as a woman, because I tend to read young.
06:43It's trying to find that balance of unique roles and hope that people will see them.'"
06:47Even though Brie Scowlark made it to third place on Cycle 5, she wound up being remembered
06:51more for her feud with that season's winner, Nicole Linkletter, than for anything else.
06:55Luckily, Scowlark would bounce back from Granola Gate, shifting from a modeling career to a
06:59life focused on balance and community.
07:01But it took some hard hits to get there.
07:03In an interview with Office Magazine, Scowlark recounted the period after the show ended,
07:07during which she went from making $200,000 on one particular day to being dropped by
07:11her agencies after a bad haircut.
07:13Our drug use led to a stint in rehab, after which the model discovered yoga.
07:17Noticing a lack of yoga studios in urban areas, Scowlark took it upon herself to set up her
07:21own sliding-scale community classes.
07:23Eventually, she began teaching in prisons, something she said is more fulfilling than
07:26her previous work.
07:27I love yoga, I'm born and raised in Harlem, and I felt like I needed to make a contribution
07:32to my community, it needed to be in action, and I needed to do it outside of that spotlight."
07:36She told the outlet,
07:37"...I feel healed and needed.
07:39I always felt disposable modeling.
07:41There was no real need for me."
07:42Kim Stoltz
07:43Cycle 5's Kim Stoltz has the distinction of being the show's first-out lesbian finalist,
07:47not to mention one of its most outspoken stars.
07:49I love having people, like, watch me."
07:51In a 2005 interview with The Village Voice, she vented her frustration with the judges'
07:55criticism to appear, quote, "...more feminine in her shoots," saying,
07:58"...at some point I said, F it, I'll be myself.
08:00And to hell with what they think, because they're being too confusing."
08:03But beyond her experience on the show, Stoltz has published a book, been an MTV reporter,
08:07and also worked on Wall Street.
08:09In 2014, Bloomberg announced that the former model had been hired as a director for equity
08:13derivative sales for Bank of America.
08:15And according to her LinkedIn, Stoltz later became the head of America's prime brokerage
08:18sales for the company.
08:19Cycle 10
08:20Although she wasn't one of the more well-liked contestants on the show at the time of her
08:24Cycle 10's Fatima Saeed claimed the fights between her and the other girls were dramatized
08:28for TV.
08:29To me, most of the girls are cool, but I don't think they understand how stupid they act
08:33sometimes."
08:34In 2011, Saeed accomplished a top model first by landing spots on runways for Dries Van
08:38Noten and Hermes, according to The Cut.
08:40The transition into high fashion came after a three-year stint of commercial and printwork.
08:44She later graced the pages of Nylon magazine and was one of the faces of Urban Decay's
08:48fall-winter 2016 ad campaign.
08:50So what's her best advice for aspiring models?
08:52She told The New York Magazine,
08:53"'Now that I work as a professional model, I advise people to stay away from any television
08:58shows.
08:59It's a waste of your time.
09:00It's just entertainment.
09:01It's not the fashion that we now know."
09:02Winnie Harlow
09:03Winnie Harlow was actually discovered by Tyra Banks via Instagram.
09:06"'I found you.'
09:07"'Really?'
09:08"'I saw you on social media.
09:09I've actually never seen vitiligo that way.'
09:11"'Yeah, neither have I.'
09:12"'It's like symmetrical, like, fantasticness.'"
09:14Harlow became the first Canadian, as well as the first model with the skin condition
09:18vitiligo, to compete on the show.
09:20Unfortunately eliminated in the fourth week, Harlow returned after she won the show's comeback
09:23series and wound up taking sixth place overall.
09:26Harlow has been incredibly outspoken in her experience with vitiligo.
09:30In a 2019 interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Harlow took aim at the news outlets that referred
09:34to her skin condition as something she was, quote, "'suffering' from.
09:37She said,
09:38"'I feel like it's not anyone else's position to tell me I am suffering.
09:40I don't feel like I am suffering.
09:42I am conquering.
09:43I am living.
09:44I am living my best life in the way that I can, and thriving.'"
09:46"'I think I was born with confidence.
09:48It was really just something that I lost when people made me feel like I shouldn't be confident.'"
09:54Certainly, her stunning look has become an incredible asset for the model, who's worked
09:58for Moschino and Julian McDonald, as well as walked the 2018 Victoria's Secret runway.