Diane Eliminated From America's Next Top Model  10/13/05

Diane, a Criminal Defense Investigator from Orlando, Fla., became the fifth girl eliminated from the fifth cycle of UPN's hit series AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, reducing the pool from 9 girls to 8.

The girls were greeted by Twiggy and Jay Manuel at Smashbox Photo Studio where they learned how to accentuate their positive features and hide their imperfections. Twiggy shared the challenges she faced while breaking into the modeling industry and answered the girls' questions about their own challenges. After being asked to anonymously note each other's flaws, the girls were given tips on how to hide them. Many of the girls felt that while Diane had an energetic personality, she didn't reflect it while in front of the camera.

To test the skills they had learned about their personal flaws, J. Alexander challenged the girls to a role-reversal where they directed photographer Jay Goldbloom to shoot them in a way that would flaunt their imperfection, and then in contrast, suggested camera angles that would help to hide it. "Diane needs to be more sexy and more out there," J. said, after noting that Diane had difficulty accentuating her voluptuous figure.

Later, Jay Manuel met with the girls for a photo shoot with guest photographer Janice Dickinson. The girls were made over to portray extreme versions of plastic surgery obsession. While many of the girls seemed to embrace their extreme look, Diane became distracted by the extremely tight binding used to simulate an intense breast reduction. "When I first met Diane, I got a huge sense of insecurity," Janice noted after the shoot.

During the week's elimination ceremony, the girls were challenged to answer questions about their personal flaws in a faux go-see opportunity with the judging panel. Diane continued to seem hesitant while addressing the panel, and Tyra felt that she wasn't being herself. And although the judges noted some improvement in Diane's performance, they felt that her continued insecurity was overshadowing her potential 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 will also receive a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl. The winner will additionally appear in a fashion spread in Elle magazine and on the cover of ELLEgirl Magazine.

The fifth 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

Source: UPN Press Release