What Happened To The America's Next Top Model Cycle 1 Cast 20 Years Later?

This feature references eating disorders. 

Twenty years ago, the inaugural cycle of world-renowned supermodel Tyra Banks' show "America's Next Top Model" aired, changing reality TV forever. The premise was simple: Young girls (and later on people of all genders) were chosen to compete in weekly challenges — including photoshoots, interviews, runways, and more — to see who could handle the pressure and win an ad campaign, photo spreads, a modeling contract, and the title of America's Next Top Model. Each week, some of the biggest people in the fashion biz critiqued and challenged the competitors, sending them home until there was only the top model remaining. In the premiere episode, Banks, in her typical girl-next-door style, explained why she started the show, saying, "I wanna make a top model in eight weeks ... [I] wanna show America how it happens."

As of this writing, "ANTM" has had 24 cycles and 334 individual contestants since it began in 2003 (some returned to compete and even win in later seasons), many of whom have gone on to new and exciting endeavors. Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans runs her own fashionable hat company Monrowe. Isis King of cycles 11 and 17 — the first trans woman to compete on the show — still models and is the star of Amazon Prime Video's rom-com "With Love." And cycle 21 fan favorite Winnie Harlow has broken barriers as the first model with vitiligo to walk the runway for Victoria's Secret. But what happened to the first 10 women to compete in "America's Next Top Model"?

The second contestant to be ousted from the show was Katie Cleary, who told viewers from the get-go that she was more than just a pretty face. In fact, she had a deep passion for acting and working with animals. The bombshell was eliminated after a semi-unsatisfactory runway walk and a photo shoot that the judges thought was more sexy than fashionable. 

Regardless, following "America's Next Top Model," her career took off and her dreams came true. She's acted in TV and film, including minor roles in "How to Get Away with Murder," "Heckle U," "Iron Man 2," and "Rules of Engagement." She's also modeled for a variety of unscripted shows like "Deal or No Deal" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and was a participant in the tourist-spot-exploring series "Get Out." 

Her biggest Hollywood achievement was directing and producing the 2022 documentary "Why on Earth," which featured Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood as the film's narrator. "He takes us through the whole process. He's incredible. He's a huge animal lover," she told Fox News about Eastwood. The project is an extension of Cleary's animal wellness nonprofit Peace 4 Animals, which works to raise money for endangered species while raising awareness about the importance of co-existing with animals. Peace 4 Animals has its own news network "World Animal News," which started in 2012, the same year that Cleary founded the nonprofit, nine years after "ANTM."

During the inaugural cycle, bald and beautiful model Ebony Haith's outspokenness and over-the-top reactions garnered positive and negative responses. She stood out during her cycle as the only lesbian who was never short of an opinion. She went head-to-head with castmate Giselle Samson and spoke honestly about her dislikes. But the judges and peers saw her behavior as aggressive and angry, which helped inspire Tyra's choice to make her the fourth model out. Haith walked out of the judging room without saying her goodbyes.

She came into the competition as a comedian, makeup artist, and aspiring model, and added published writer to her repertoire post "ANTM." Starting in 2021, Haith has been writing an autobiographical collection of essays titled, "In My Skin," for Now PR Magazine's Affirmation Series. In her articles, the self-proclaimed shapeshifter has opened up about her faith in God, her life as a foster child, and her struggles with her hair and skin. For Chapter Four of her collection, titled, "The Fork in the Road," she wrote, "I have always been thankful, especially when I look in the mirror and see God through my ancestors. I represent beauty today."

18 years later, Haith cleared the air with Samson in the latter model's Oliver TwiXt interview. Elaborating on her frustrations, Haith explained she was trying to defend Samson, "I kept trying to tell everybody ... She's 18. What do you expect? She's behaving the way she should." Thankfully, the two exchanged some mutual compassion for each of their respective perspectives. Yay for closure!

Kesse Wallace introduced herself in her audition tape as a True Diva, proclaiming, "I'm devastating, intriguing, vivacious, and just all that!" Despite declaring sassy energy, Wallace admittedly came off as shy and quiet. Still, her remarkable resemblance to Tyra Banks was loud enough to get the other competitors concerned that she would win because of their similarities. 

During the show's first challenge in Paris involving a lingerie photoshoot with a male model, the photographer believed her to be too timid and lacking in confidence. When the contestants were asked to attend Go-Sees, Wallace sadly only made it to three out of the four since she lost track of time shopping. Her elimination was the first time that the judges and the rest of the contestants all cried. 

As of this writing, Wallace seems to have left the public eye entirely. She did some print work for King Magazine in 2004 and walked the runway for designers like Yeohlee Teng, Francis Hendy, and Renne Larc between 2005 and 2007. But for the most part, the star has kept a low profile ever since. Hopefully, she's doing fabulously and staying a True Diva.

Elyse Sewell was a bit of a polarizing contestant. She came into the competition as an intellectual with dreams of attending medical school if modeling didn't work out. In some of her confessionals, she talked poorly in profane rants about her fellow competitors, calling Giselle Samson worthless, Katie Cleary insincere, and Robbyne Manning foolish. At one point, she even told the world she was over it all, stating, "I don't wanna be a model ... Eliminate me." But despite these frustrations, Sewell was a judge's favorite, with her catwalk and photoshoots all praised. She coyly confessed her investment in winning "ANTM" but her passion for fashion was questioned. Her castmates were also concerned about Sewell's health and speculated she had an eating disorder, which the Pre-Med student vehemently denied.

Although she'd criticized the industry, after placing third in the competition Sewell's career skyrocketed in East Asia. She posed for the cover of Hong Kong's Harper's Bazaar, appeared in advertisements, and walked for haute couture fashion shows. Sewell also documented her modeling career on her YouTube channel and blog, but after 2009 she has been inactive, as of this writing. In a Fashion TV interview, she did say we wouldn't hear from her in a while because she hoped to be married. Online sleuths managed to track down evidence that as of 2015, Sewell had appeared to have gotten married and is now known as Elyse Thompson. She also seemed to be working as a geospatial analyst. 

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

The first-ever winner of "America's Next Top Model" was Adrianne Curry-Rhode (previously Adrianne Curry), the rock n' roll Chicagoan who was determined to win. During the cycle, she expressed no pain during her makeover, pushed her exercising limits, and even rallied through a debilitating case of food poisoning. Ultimately, it paid off, and the tomboy from the boondocks took the title home. One of the prizes promised by "Top Model" was a contract with Revlon. But in a since-deleted blog post, Curry-Rhode claimed this wasn't the case. "[Revlon] informed me they never planned on using the winner," she wrote. "... They hired me for $15k to model makeup in a room." Additionally, the model also alleged that she never saw a dime of that $15k (via Life & Style).

But the beautiful brunette persisted. She modeled and also went into other corners of the reality TV world, most famously "The Surreal Life" where she met and later dated "Brady Bunch" star Christopher Knight, which landed them their spin-off show, "My Fairy Brady." The two separated on their fifth anniversary in 2011, and were divorced two years later. She went on to find love with voice actor Matthew Rhode. On Instagram in September 2022 they celebrated four years of marriage together. 

She has since retired from the fashion and TV industry — but not from speaking her mind. In 2023, she was accused of body shaming actor Melanie Lynskey after Curry-Rhode criticized her non-muscular physique in "The Last of Us." The model promptly deleted her Twitter account during the backlash.