AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL CYCLE 6
NNENNA ELIMINATED FROM UPN'S "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL"

Photo courtesy of UPN.

Nnenna, a chemist from Houston, became the eighth girl eliminated from the sixth cycle of UPN's hit series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, reducing the pool from 6 girls to 5.

The girls completed an intense media training session with public relations expert Rachel McCallister that taught the ladies to have confidence and poise while being questioned by members of the press. All of the girls seemed discouraged by the harsh questions asked by Vanity Fair columnist George Wayne, but Nnenna persevered and while her seriousness and confidence made her appear snobbish, her ability to handle herself under extreme pressure led her to win the challenge and a day of pampering for her and fellow housemate Jade.

As the girls arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, they were whisked off to a beautiful hotel where they would live throughout the remainder of their time in the competition.

The next morning, Jay Manuel met the girls at a traditional Thai floating market for a photo shoot for Banana Boat sun tan lotion where each posed upside down as a beautiful mermaid caught in a fish net. Although most of the girls had trouble adjusting to the stomach-crunching harness that held them in mid-air, Nnenna let the discomfort take control causing her to lose focus during the shoot.

Later the girls were instructed to demonstrate their personality and sell themselves as models in front of the judging panel. Nnenna's lengthy speech dragged on, causing the judges to get bored and question her drive in the competition. Although the judges agreed that Nnenna is beautiful and began the competition as one of the strongest participants, they felt that she failed to grow out of her safe, routine performances in the photo shoots. "You started this competition at the top of the pack, you had that 'it' thing, but that 'it' thing is fading," Tyra said before eliminating Nnenna from the running to become AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL.

The winner of UPN's AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL will have the opportunity to be managed by Ford Models. She also receives a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl. Finally, the winner appears in a fashion spread in Elle magazine.

The sixth installment of UPN's hit dramality series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL follows 13 young women as they attempt to prove they have what it takes to make it in the high-stress, high-stakes world of modeling. Banks, who created the show, also serves as executive producer along with Ken Mok ("Making the Band") and Anthony Dominici ("The Amazing Race").

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL airs Wednesdays, (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. For more information about AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, log on to www.upn.com.

The Interview

Nnenna's elimination is one of the most surprising of this cycle of America's Next Top Model. Believed by many to be the front-runner of the competition, this African beauty has won over a legion of loyal fans. All of whom she is so thankful for. "I want to thank everybody that supported me and said nice things about me. I am so appreciative. When I would say 'I don't care' it was a defense mechanism because I didn't want to say things bad about other people. But I really do care about what people think of me. And I just thank everyone so, so much."

So how did this chemist become a contestant on a reality show looking for America's Next Top Model? Chemist, model. Both seem to be very different career paths. "Yes, yes" Nnenna laughed on the phone. "When I first came to this country I was 14, and I knew I wanted to be a model. But I also knew that I would have to go to school first. I watched the 1st and 2nd seasons while I was in college, and knew this was a great way to learn and get into the business." Nnenna hadn't modeled before. "It was my 1st real trial. I live in Houston, there isn't much modeling here" she laughed. But she admitted that although Chemistry was harder than modeling, modeling was more difficult than she thought. "Compared to chemistry... I go to work 12 hours a day, and it is very tedious. Modeling is hard, but not harder than chemistry. Modeling is exciting and so much fun. But is modeling harder than I thought? Yes."

As a fan of the show that has watched from the beginning, I have always been intrigued by how much editing plays a part in what we think we know about a person or a situation. Unfortunately for Nnenna, she learned that perception can outweigh reality in the editing room. Take for instance her boyfriend. "I'm not blaming my boyfriend. I tried hard not to lose focus. I really regret being the girl with 'boyfriend drama'. Never in a million years would I have thought it would be me. We had a fight one day, and we were fine the next day. But they kept showing clips of it over many episodes. I was not always on the phone."

In fact, her boyfriend was her connection to the outside world, and a great stress-reliever for Nnenna. "You have a limited number of people you can talk to you while you're on the show. My sister was one that I was supposed to talk to, but her phone number wouldn't accept calls from unlisted phones. So John was my initial support." Another way Nnenna dealt with stress was a knee-jerk reaction. "Many times I said 'I don't care'. That was my defense mechanism. I didn't want to say anything bad about anyone. People would ask about this or that girl. They would ask about Brooke and what did I think of her. I would say 'I don't care' to protect myself."

Since she had brought up Brooke, I told Nnenna that during our interview with her, Brooke said she was very sorry about the fight she had with Nnenna. "We totally... that is in the past." Nnenna explained that Brooke didn't mean anything by what she said, and acknowledged that she wasn't perfect in the situation either. "That's why I apologized to her." But rest assured, the two girls have moved on, and are so past it.

We thought it would be fun to get Nnenna's opinions of the other girls remaining on the show. This is how she characterized each of them:

Jade: "She is a strong person. I admire her strength. She is not a bad person. She is not what you see and you would know that if you got to meet her or know her."

Joanie: "Funny. Hilarious."

Furonda: "I love Furonda. She is very intelligent. I can really talk to her."

Danielle: "Funny. She is fun loving."

Sarah: "Very intelligent. We e-mail back and forth and stay in touch."

Nnenna was also quick to point out that she got along with all of the girls. "I don't think there was any animosity amongst any of us."

So what about Nnenna? She has been described as beautiful, regal, shy, reserved, serious and even snobbish. How does she describe herself? "I'm a serious person when it comes to business. I don't see myself as boring, people like to be around me. My nickname is "smiley" because I'm always smiling. But I will be serious when I need to be. I know when it is time to be serious."

So did you think you were surprised when Nnenna was eliminated? I was. So I asked Nnenna about her reaction. "While I was on the show I was not surprised. I was more surprised at the response I got. Pleasantly surprised." Nnenna went on to explain how she was also very pleasantly surprised at the reaction to her make-over. "When they shaved my head.. I don't know, but in America a bald head seems to be a bad thing. They took my security. I had no hair left to hide behind. So I was very pleasantly surprised at the positive response I got. People said I still looked beautiful and they liked me bald."

Now Nnenna's plan is to move to New York. "I would like to work with many different photographers and try to get into an agency." Look at the girl. She may have been eliminated from America's Next Top Model, but we hardly think this is the end of the road. No... I think that we have only just begun to see Nnenna.

~April 27, 2006

Read about America's Next Top Model Cycle 6
Read about America's Next Top Model Cycle 5
Read about America's Next Top Model Cycle 4
Read about America's Next Top Model Season 3
Read about America's Next Top Model Season 2
Read about America's Next Top Model Season 1

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