Britain's Next Top Model
| Britain's Next Top Model | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Tyra Banks |
| Directed by | James Macdonald Lorraine O'Keefe |
| Judges | Lisa Snowdon Huggy Ragnarsson (4 - present) Gerry Deveaux (4 - present) Lisa Butcher (1) Marie Helvin (1) Jonathan Phang (1 - 3) Paula Hamilton (2 - 3) |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 35 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (44 without commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Living (2005-) |
| Release | September 14, 2005 – present |
Britain's Next Top Model (often shortened to BNTM or Top Model) is a British reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of Britain's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in modeling industry.
It is based of the hit U.S. TV show America's Next Top Model, and it shares the same format. It is currently hosted by supermodel Lisa Snowdon, who also serves as head judge. It was originally hosted by model Lisa Butcher, however she left after Cycle 1 of the show.
On April 18, 2008 it was announced that there will be a Comic Relief Does Britain's Next Top Model which will be produced by livingtv but shown on BBC1. The show will see 12 female celebrities all taking part when week by week the public will vote who goes and till there is a winner, the show is to raise money for Comic Relief and will be shown instead of Comic Relief does Fame Academy.
Show Format
Each season of Britain's Next Top Model has from 10-12 episodes and starts with 10-14 contestants. Each episode, one contestant is eliminated, though in rare cases a double elimination or no elimination was given by consensus of the judging panel. Makeovers are administered to contestants early in the season (usually after the first or second elimination in the finals), and a trip to an international destination is scheduled nearer the end of the cycle when 4 or 5 girls remain in the competition.
Each episode of Top Model covers the events of roughly a week of real time (however, while overseas, an episode may cover a shorter amount of time), and features a fashion challenge, photo shoot and/or commercial, a critique of each contestant and her performance by the judging panel led by Lisa Snowdon, and the elimination of one or more contestants (or in a rare case, no contestants are eliminated). As of Cycle 4, the current panel includes fashion photographer and former supermodel Huggy Ragnarsson and fashion guru Gerry DeVaux. Previous judges included model Lisa Butcher (who was the head judge for Cycle 1), supermodel Paula Hamilton and industry expert Jonathan Phang. Usually, an additional guest judge will sit in on the panel every week. Each episode is usually associated with a theme in the world of modeling, such as dealing with the press in interviews, selling a commercial product, appearing in a runway show or going to visit the Models1 offices for something similar to a go see.
An episode usually begins with the contestants receiving training in an area concurrent with the week's theme. For example, contestants may get coached in runway walking, improvisational acting, or applying make-up to suit various occasions. A related challenge soon follows, such as a mock runway show or interview, and a winner is chosen by a judge. She receives some sort of prize, such as clothing, a night out, or an advantage at the next photo shoot, and she is usually allowed to share the benefits with a certain number of other contestants of her choice. However if more than one girl wins the challenge, the winners will go on to share the prize, instead of it being selective.
The next segment is a photo shoot, and each contestant's performance will reflect heavily on her judging for that week. Each season features photo shoots such as bikini or lingerie shots, beauty shots, posing nude or semi-nude, posing with another model, and posing with some sort of animal(s). Occasionally an advert may also be filmed for judging purposes, however unless they do not do a photoshoot that week, the advert doesn't affect the performance heavily.
The final segment of each episode is judging. Each contestant's photo is then shown and evaluated by the judging panel. After all photos have been evaluated, the contestants leave the room as the judges deliberate. The elimination process is ceremonious, as one by one Lisa reveals and hands out the photos of the contestants that have not been eliminated, in order of merit, occasionally saying something akin to, "Congratulations. You are still in the running towards becoming Britain's Next Top Model". The last two contestants who have not received their photos are brought up as "the bottom two", and Lisa critiques each one before revealing which of the two has been eliminated. However, there have been three exceptions, as Cycle 1 had a non-elimination due to a contestant leaving and Cycle 2 and Cycle 4 had a double elimination. The most recent episode of Cycle 4 also included a non-elimination.
Prizes
Like all other Top Model programmes, Britain's Next Top Model contains somewhat luxurious prizes. The prizes are a modeling contract and representation with Models 1 - one of the top modeling agencies in the Britain, a fashion spread, campaign and front cover of Company Magazine and a £100,000 contract with cosmetics giant Max Factor. Former prizes include a £100,000 contract with cosmetics company Ruby and Millie Cosmetics (Cycle 1-3), a fashion spread in B Magazine (Cycle 1) and representation with Beatrice Models in Milan (Cycle 1).
Criticism and Praise
The show is generally considered a poor copy of the parent show America's Next Top Model. The majority of complaints are about the small budget the show is given; considering the budget is much smaller than America's Next Top Model, the overall quality of the show is degraded. Complaints of the photograph and the overall show quality are frequent, as well as complaints that the current judging panel are incapable of their duties, namely Gerry DeVaux. Lisa Snowdon has also been criticised for being bias towards certain contestants and favouring specific girls.
However the show has been praised on the realism of the photoshoots and challenges that the girls participate in. They are thought to be better because of the ridiculous themes that America's Next Top Model has for the photoshoots.
Cycles
| Cycle | Premier Date | Winner | Runner-up | Other contestants (in order of elimination) | Number of contestants | International destination | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cycle 1 | September 22, 2005 | Lucy Ratcliffe | Edwina Joseph | Marina Fallahi, Claire Hillier, Shauna Breen, Anne Kent (quit), Hayley Wilkins, Marisa Heath, Stephanie Jones, Naomi Teal, Tashi Brown, Jenilee Harris | 12 | Milan, Italy  Paris, France 
|
Lisa Butcher |
| Cycle 2 | July 24 2006 | Lianna Fowler | Abigail Clancy | Yvette Stubbs, Nina Malone, Ashley Hibbert, Lucy Flower, Sophia Price, Samantha Gerrard, Tamar Higgs, Georgina Edewor-Thorley, Sarah Butler, Amber Niemann, Jasmia Robinson | 13 | Marrakech, Morocco 
|
Lisa Snowdon |
| Cycle 3 | July 2 2007 | Lauren McAvoy | Louise Watts | Dani Lawrence, Krystal Hancock, Abigail Galatia, Natalie Nwagbo, Holly Alexander Ritchie, Carly Thompson, Sherece Campbell, Lucy Bennett, Stefanie Dakota Webber, Rebecca White | 12 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
|
Lisa Snowdon |
| Cycle 4 | April 21 2008 | TBA | TBA | Sophie Roberts, Musayeroh Barrie, Louise Heywood, Lauren Donaldson-Stanley, Lindsey Arnott, Lisa Fowler, Leanne Nagle, Martha Braddell, Aaron Hunt, Charlotte Denton, Rachael Cairns Stefanie Wilson
Still in the running: Alex Evans, Catherine Thomas, Stefanie Wilson |
14 | Cape Town, South Africa 
| |
| Cycle 5 | TBA | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Show Statistics
Winners
- Oldest winner: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1) and Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), both 20 years old
- Youngest winner: Lianna Fowler (Cycle 2), 18 years old
- Tallest winners: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1), 5'11" (180 cm)
- Shortest winner: Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), 5'8" (173 cm)
- Heaviest winner: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1), 60 kg
- Most consecutive challenge wins: Lianna Fowler (Cycle 2), 2 wins
- Most collective challenge wins: Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), 3 wins
- Most consecutive appearances in bottom two: Lianna Fowler (Cycle 2) and Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), both 2 times
- Most collective appearances in bottom two: Lianna Fowler (Cycle 2) and Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), both 3 times
- No challenge wins: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1)
- Most consecutive first call outs: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1), 2 times
- Most collective first call outs: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1) and Lianna Fowler (Cycle 2), 2 times
- Fewest first call outs: Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), 0 times
All Contestants
- Total number of contestants: 51
- Oldest contestants: Lucy Flower (Cycle 2), 25 years old
- Youngest contestants: 10 Contestants were 18 at the time of filming - the youngest age allowed in the competition.
- Tallest contestants: Sophia Price (Cycle 2) and Martha Braddell (Cycle 4), both 6'1" (183 cm)
- Shortest contestant: Sherece Campbell (Cycle 3), 5'7 (170 cm)
- Heaviest contestant: Louise Watts (Cycle 3), 132 lbs (60 kg)
- Lightest contestant: Marisa Heath (Cycle 1), 109 lbs (49 kg)
- Most consecutive challenge wins: Alex Evans (Cycle 4), 3 wins
- Most collective challenge wins: Catherine Thomas (Cycle 4), 5 wins
- Most consecutive appearances in bottom two: Tashi Brown (Cycle 1) and Lisa Fowler (Cycle 4), both 3 times
- Most collective appearances in bottom two: Tashi Brown (Cycle 1), Lianna Fowler (Cycle 2), Carly Thompson, Stefanie Dakota Webber, Lauren McAvoy (Cycle 3), Lisa Fowler and Charlotte Denton (Cycle 4), all 3 times
- Most consecutive first callouts: Lucy Ratcliffe (Cycle 1), Louise Watts (Cycle 3), both 2 times
- Most collective first callouts: Louise Watts (Cycle 3), 4 times
- Contestants part of a double elimination: Georgina Edewor-Thorley & Tamar Higgs (Cycle 2), Leanne Nagle & Martha Braddell (Cycle 4)
- Contestants part of a non-elimination: Lucy Ratcliffe & Stephanie Jones (Cycle 1), Alex Evans & Catherine Thomas (Cycle 4)
- Contestant that quit the competition: Anne Kent (Cycle 1)