Top Model Winners—Where are They Now…or What Have They Done?

Top Model Winners—Where are They Now…or What Have They Done? by Roxanne McDonald

After seeing Adrianne Curry on a documentary for sex toys, where she was demonstrating the fun of having a stripper pole in the bedroom, I started to wonder what other risky business the former Top Model winners have gotten into….

Seeing the posters in the Top Model Fashion History House (this season), I also was reminded of my favorites—like Yoanna and Naima and Eva—so I thought I would snoop into their new lives a bit:

Adrianne Curry, winner of season 1

Adrianne has modeled, done bit-part acting, and made several TV appearances. Well, that’s an understatement. Besides pulling in a million bucks for doing Playboy, Curry has garnered most of her post-Top Model fame by appearing in the reality TV show “My Fair Brady,” with husband Chris Knight (mostly fighting and being pissy), and by subsequently showing up for interviews with Kennedy on Reality TV Remix.

Also, evidently because of her bashing Banks in several interviews (did she learn nothing from the lessons?) in The Daily Collegian, Steppin’ Out, Page Six, and Playboy, Curry was removed as a reference in “America’s Next Top Model” seasons 3,4,5,6, and 7.
I will have to look closer to see if she is featured in the Fashion History House.

Yoanna House, winner of season 2

Beautiful and classy Yoanna did do a few gigs—for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, 2004; for a Declare Yourself voting campaign; for Psychology Today. She was contracted with Careline and 1st Opinion Model Management, in, respectively, Holland and Israel, and she was also awarded the accolade of being “the face of CW”. But now House is hosting “The Look for Less,” sitting in former Survivor Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s chair.

Eva Pigford, winner of season 3

The adorable Eva has landed several contracts, doing shoots/covers for DKNY, Samsung, King, Brides Noir, Women’s Health and Fitness, Elle Girl, Applebottoms, Star, and many others. She has done number of runway shos—such as Ellegirl/Wal-Mart, Gharani Strok, and an annual Models of Perfection gig.
And Pigford is no stranger to television post-Top Model, doing both reality (“Real World Hawaii”) and prime time dramas (like Kevin Hill), as well as hosting shows like BET’s “Rip the Runway.”

It helps, too, that her “My Life as a Cover Girl” pieces are fun and frolicky, rather than dishwater dull…as those of some of the other Top Model winners are.

Naima Mora, winner of season 4

Naima’s “My Life as a Cover Girl” was not one of the dull ones I refer to. As well, she has graced our sets and pages for modeling (for mags like Elle, Fuego, Star, Teen People, Split Clothing; and runways such as Carlos Miele, Fashion Comedy Style 2005, and Gharani Strok), hosting/presenting (as a 2005 Primetime Emmys trophy girl), appearing (several times on The Tyra Banks Show, for instance), and acting (the pilot for “Veronica Mars”)..among many other appearances and gigs she surely deserves to keep landing.

Nicole Linkletter, winner of season 5
While my least favorite, this white-bread, girl-next-door type has had a wealth of jobs after winning America’s Next Top Model in season 5: she has contracts with agencies in Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong; has done Elle and Ellegirl, has modeled for Secret, Vigoss, Sele, Travata, and Yank (among several others), and has done runway shows including Alice and Olivia, Bebe, and Rozae Nichols.

Like Naima, Nicole has served as a judge for pageants like Miss USA 2006, like Eva has appeared on The Tyra Banks Show (of course), and like many Top Model winners has hosted awards shows and done entertainment news bits such as E!’s pre-Oscar show and VH1’s “Fashion Week” reports.

Danielle Evans, winner of season 6

Danielle has also gotten her share of work, appearing on covers and in magazine spreads and interviews (such as PowerPlay, Elle, Ellegirl, Jewel, Seventeen, and the New York Post!); doing the much-talked-about CoverGirl commercial with Queen Latifah, and working the Fashion Week shows such as those of Baby Phat and Zang Toi.

CariDee English, winner of season 7

The most recent Top Model winner has yet to get a great number of deals and gigs under her modeling belt, if you will, but has contracted (as part of her prize winnings) with Cover Girl and Ford, has already graced the covers of such popular magazines as Seventeen (and likely Elle, though I found no news on this, yet), and has been interviewed for her classic and comical CariDee style by TV Guide. She looks forward to more gigs, to talking with Tyra (maybe even on her show?), and to getting the wished-for opportunity to model, act, and even rap opposite Josh Harnett, Johnny Depp, and Eminem. Probably one of CariDee’s most rewarding and memorable (besides the telling Nigel he could take the stick out of his ass joke) career ops was when, as soon as she was named “America’s Next Top Model,” she was prepped for posing with Tyra for a cover shoot.

What better gig could a Top Model winner ask for?

And who will be the next to boast such lucrative career boosts? Jael?

SirLinksAlot America’s Next Top Model links

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