Cycle 6, Episodes 8: "The Girl Who Has Surgery"

May 20, 2024

Nnenna’s still having trouble with her boyfriend John and talking on the phone forever.

Furonda’s looking out for Nnenna.

If I were Furonda, I would WANT Nnenna to be distracted so she would lose. It’s a competition!

We get this random stock footage of clocks.

We time jump to the models showing up at an office with their modeling portfolios where they meet photographer Jeff Lorch. When did they get their portfolios??

Jeff tells them they’re going to meet with a very influential unnamed modeling professional who can help them launch their careers.

Her name’s Deprise (duh-PREEZE), which doesn’t sound real.

And she’s actually an actress playing a jerk. But how much of it is acting?

Some of her feedback:

Nnenna looks like a drag queen and has a gut.
Furonda looks anorexic and has a big nose.
Danielle has a gap in her teeth. Duh.
Sara’s bottom lip is much fuller than her top lip.
Joanie’s ears stick out and she photographs old.
Brooke looks masculine and “it’s disturbing”.
Jade “looks like a dude” and has a high forehead.

Deprise’s comments are overly harsh and just mean-spirited.

The other models hold their breath for Jade, but she actually handles the feedback quite well. She rolls with the punches and accepts the terrible things Deprise says with a smile.

When the jig is up and Deprise comes out as an actress, she says she hated being mean to the models. I don’t buy it. I think she loved it. She’s probably gotten harsh feedback working in the industry and wanted to haze up-and-comers.

Because of her calm demeanor, Jade wins and chooses Nnenna to share her prize. They come home to two huge boxes with their names on them. Surprise! It’s Jade’s mom and Nnenna’s controversial boyfriend.

Jade’s mom does “energy work” on her.

This explains a lot of Jade’s personality.

Nnenna tries to explain away her kiss with the male model.

Roll the tape.

When John has some follow-up questions, Nnenna pretends to be asleep.

This relationship is obviously not going to work out. Nnenna is clearly over John. Why was she with him to begin with? And I get gay vibes.

I think he’s kind of cute, but then I remember how controlling he can sound and I’m not into it.

This week’s photoshoot is dolls. It’s a campaign for Pantene. I’m sure Tyra drew on her role in “Life-Size”, which was a legit good movie.

Mr. Jay assigns the models different types of dolls. The term “doll” is used very loosely.

Joanie - ventriloquist doll
Sara - “teen doll” - wut?
Furonda - rag doll
Jade - “mannequin doll” - not a doll
Brooke - “glam doll” - also wut?
Nnenna - baby doll
Danielle - marionette

Joanie gets a male model who looks like a Swedish pop star.

I find the doll Furonda’s holding in her shoot a bit … off.

After their photoshoot, Jay tells them they’re going to the dentist. Most of them will just get their teeth whitened, but Joanie’s going to get her “snaggletooth” taken care of and Danielle’s going to get her gap fixed.

It’s pretty major surgery for Joanie.

One of her teeth is jutting out. I don’t know if braces would have been able to correct that. But because this is TV, we want to see the transformation NOW!

Joanie ends up getting multiple teeth pulled and they create something like veneers to put over her remaining teeth. She’s at the dentist’s office for 12+ hours. She says she left at 5:30 a.m.

I feel so horrible for her having to go through this on camera.

If there weren’t enough challenges for this episode, there’s more! The models show up to a nightclub in broad daylight where they find Janice Dickinson, ANTM Cycle 3 winner Eva and Mark Ecko, a fashion designer who’s apparently straight.

The models briefly chat with Eva, who’s nipple is fully visible through her top.

Then Janice talks to them about the “ugly side” of modeling. She tells them the story of how she drank too much champagne before a runway show, walked off the catwalk and ruined a relationship with Valentino.

Then Tyra directs them in a moody black-and-white photoshoot with “tear stick”, which has menthol in it to make them cry.

Shout out to Sutan a.k.a. Raja.

Joanie has to go BACK to the dentist again to get her veneers.

They look great and she seems happy with them. But was accelerating this process worse than having a slower approach? I think she just needed some braces or Invisalign.

They did two photoshoots this week, so both photos are evaluated at panel.

I don’t love Furonda’s black-and-white photo, but the doll one is good. You just have to zoom in to really see her.

Neither of Brooke’s photos is good.

Joanie’s photos are solid (especially after having dental surgery), but I’m most interested in the oiled up male model.

At panel, Tyra reads Danielle for not having her gap closed and she comes HARD!

This clip went viral a few years ago because it does not look good for Tyra. Danielle, who professionally goes by Dani now, recorded herself responding to the video and outlining her path to Top Model. She discusses why a big motivation for getting onto the show was leaving her hometown Little Rock.

Apparently, this storyline that Tyra asked Dani to close her gap and she refused was made up. What really happened seemed more casual and at first, Dani did not want to close her gap. But she wanted to stay in the competition.

Her photos this week are fine, but neither really does it for me.

I like Jade’s black-and-white photo. However, the judges call her out when she seems to get emotional at panel. They say it’s forced. I don’t like Jade’s styling for the doll shoot.

I don’t love Sara’s first photo, but it’s not the worst. Her doll one is not good either. What is a teen doll? I still want to know.

Nnenna has the strongest black-and-white photo. Her doll one is bad helped in large part to her terrible makeup and that wig.

Jade and Brooke end up in the bottom two. Although Jade keeps ending up in the bottom (not always for her modeling) Brooke needs to go! And she does. Tyra tells her the judges have run out of chances to give her.

Spoiler alert: this cycle the models go international to Thailand. Brooke, Leslie and Nnenna were brought along to serve as decoys a la Project Runway. So they got a free trip and Brooke’s photo is her best of the entire season.