Australia's Next Top Model - Controversy

Controversy

Following a breach of contract with Heynatz's appearance on the Channel Seven series It Takes Two, she was replaced as host by Jodhi Meares, although Meares had been consistently scrutinised for her huge lack of involvement in the show. During the Cycle 3 live finale, she made a number of embarrassing blunders that drew commentary from critics on her ability to host. Things were worsened when she pulled out of her hosting duties hours before the Cycle 4 live finale. The swarm of negative comments from the press and fans of the show led to Meares' withdrawal from the programme.

In Cycle 4, Demelza Reveley's win provoked negative feedback from critics and the public due to her bullying of another contestant. Leader of the self-named clique "the Bitchketeers", in one episode, Reveley brought fellow competitor Alamela Rowan, 17, to tears by water-bombing her and tipping water on her head. Rowan, who was left traumatised by the taunts and attacks during her time on the show, was noticeably unimpressed by the apology Reveley gave. The "Bitchketeers" had also had also caused problems for fellow contestants Alexandra Girdwood, Belinda Hodge & Caris Eves. Vogue Australia editor-in-chief, Kirstie Clements, and former model and fellow judge Charlotte Dawson preferred Alexandra Girdwood, because of Reveley's behaviour. The judges' scores were tied, so the decision came down to the public, who voted for Reveley.

After Cycle 5, runner-up Cassi Van Den Dungen made a series of highly controversial comments. She was offered modeling contracts by Priscilla's Model Management in Australia and Elite Model Management in New York City (the contract with Elite was worth a reported $2 million). Cassi turned down both offers and quit modeling in order to remain in Sunbury with her bricklayer boyfriend, Brad Saul, causing a backlash from the public, as well as from judges Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson, who had vouched for Cassi on the show and urged her to pursue modeling. Cassi later stated in the press that she rejected the Elite contract because she didn't want to be pressured to drop from a size six to a four. Later, to the surprise of many, it was announced that Cassi would be signing a contract with IMG Paris and would be walking for designers at Paris Fashion Week in March 2010. Cassi made the trip to Paris with Saul but withdrew after insulting the French agents and referring to them as "snail slurpers" and "frog eaters" on her Facebook page. Saul added his comments which included a racial slur, for which the couple received more fire.

In the Cycle 6: Live Final, the TV viewers voted to decide the winner. Initially, Sarah Murdoch announced Kelsey Martinovich as the winner of Australia's Next Top Model. Moments after Martinovich had made her victory speech, Murdoch stopped the celebrations and announced that Amanda Ware was the winner of Cycle 6. An embarrassed Murdoch apologised repeatedly to Martinovich and the audience, stating that the final result was fed to her wrong. As compensation for the error, Foxtel awarded Martinovich a A$25,000 cash prize and an all-expenses paid trip to New York. Harper's Bazaar decided to release both Amanda and Kelsey's covers for the November issue.

In the days following the bungled announcement, top industry commentators expressed skepticism about whether the episode was a publicity stunt, with the editor of Harper's Bazaar Edwina McCann accusing Foxtel of manipulating the ANTM result. "The network did want Amanda to win...They kept the voting lines open for a long time I think in the hope that she would get over the line. I'm told that it came down to three votes," she told the Nine Network.