‘America’s Next Top Model’ Winner Naima Mora Claims Agency Dropped Her Due to Weight Gain
Apparently, winning ‘ANTM’ won’t guarantee you a career in the modeling industry.
Tyra Banks’ America’s Next Top Model — a once beloved reality competition show — has long fallen out of favor due to its problematic depiction of the already problematic and questionable fashion industry. But while it’s already known that the show aged like milk, there is more to unravel about what transpired within the show that aired for 24 seasons. Naima Mora, a Season 4 winner, revealed that the modeling agency she signed as part of the program’s prizes dropped her after she shaved her hair and gained weight.
In a six-minute video uploaded via TikTok, the television personality shared that she was able to work with CoverGirl, a contract she won alongside the cash prize, and revealed how she loved working with the cosmetics company, having been given the opportunity to work as a spokesperson for ANTM’s following seasons. However, Mora stated that she didn’t get to enjoy her other prize, which is a contract with Ford Models. According to her, her time with the modeling agency was really “challenging.”
“At the time, fashion was very strict on maintaining weight for models — keep in mind this is like 2005–2006. So, after the show, I gained a lot of weight, and Ford Models was very upset about it. It put a lot of pressure on me and it was very challenging. Now, I loved my mohawk, I loved it, and it is one of the ways that I have influenced pop culture … just being myself, so, Ford Models didn’t really like it. They didn’t like my haircut, they didn’t like that I gained weight, they put a lot of pressure on me to grow out my hair and be very, very thin, like, a size 0,” Mora shared.
Naima Mora Has Always Been a “Rebel”
Mora is known for never conforming to any beauty standards imposed on models at the time, and she claimed that Ford Models was “very disappointed” in her for not sticking to the rules. She added:
“I didn’t fit the industry standard and what the status quo of what a model and what beautiful looked like at the time, so I shaved my head again without asking my booker about it, and, that same day, they dropped me. So working with Ford Models was actually very challenging for me to express myself in the most authentic way.”
The actress and model also revealed that she did receive the contract, though it did not work out in her favor. She went on to say that Banks did not anticipate for it to happen and expressed gratitude for the ANTM host and creator for believing in her and trusting the way she represents herself to the world. But though she ended the clip by saying she “loved” her ANTM experience, a reality show is something she will never do again. “No, I wouldn’t do another reality TV show again.”
Originally published at https://collider.com on October 9, 2023.
