Candace M. Smith

Biography

The eighteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model (subtitled as America's Next Top Model: British Invasion) premiered on February 29, 2012, and was the twelfth season to air on The CW. It occupied the time slot of the final two scheduled episodes of Remodeled. This was the first American edition of Top Model to be filmed and broadcast in high definition (HD). The cycle featured fourteen contestants, placing seven British contestants who had competed in previous cycles of Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model alongside seven all-new American contestants. Fashion industry public relations maven Kelly Cutrone replaced Vogue editor André Leon Talley as a judge for the series. The rest of the judging panel remained the same. The international destinations for this cycle were Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong in China. This marked the second time the series filmed in China. The prizes for this cycle included a modeling contract with LA Models & NY Model Management, a guest correspondent placement with Extra, a fashion spread in Vogue Italia, and both the cover and a spread in Beauty in Vogue, becoming the face of America's Next Top Model fragrance "Dream Come True", production of a record single released by CBS Records, and a US$100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics. The winner of the competition was 21-year-old British contestant Sophie Sumner from Oxford, England. American contestant Laura LaFrate placed as the runner up. This is also the first cycle in the history of America's Next Top Model in which none of the top three contestants ever landed in the bottom two during judging. It was also the second cycle that the last contestant to be eliminated has no first call-out.

== Casting ==

The cycle featured seven contestants from previous cycles of Britain's Next Top Model for a second chance to win the title. Cycles 1 and 7 were both unrepresented, cycles 2, 3, 4 and 6 were each represented by one contestant, and cycle 5 was represented by three contestants. Amelia Thomas from cycle 6 was supposed to also compete this season, but dropped out during casting.

== Cast ==

=== Contestants === (Ages stated are at start of contest)

=== Judges === Tyra Banks Nigel Barker Kelly Cutrone

== Episodes == No episode aired on April 4, 2012 due to the CW's broadcast of One Tree Hill series finale.

== Summaries ==