Whitby Girl Wins Canada’s Next Top Model
Posted July 20, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
In a matter of weeks she transformed from geeky to glamourous and on Wednesday night 19-year-old Andrea Muizelaar was crowned Canada’s Next Top Model.
Muizelaar, a 19-year-old cashier from Whitby, Ont., triumphed over runner-up Alanna, a waitress from Kelowna, B.C., and eight other girls in the first Canadian TV spinoff of America’s Next Top Model.
Following the final challenge for the pair, a real runway show in which they were expected to demonstrate what they’d learned over the course of the program, host and model-turned-actor Tricia Helfer nodded to a television screen that revealed the winner’s photo. When Muizelaar saw her face looking back, she burst into tears.
“Oh my God … thank you so much,” she said. “I’m going to make you guys so proud, honest to God.”
The season finale began with three girls – Andrea, Alanna, and Sisi, a 23-year-old student from Richmond, B.C. Sisi was the first to be kicked off after she impressed judges the least during a challenge that involved filming a CoverGirl commercial.
The immensely successful show, which ran on Citytv, saw the 10 contestants living together in a waterfront house on Vancouver Island and running through a series of coaching classes and tests that involved learning how to take good photographs, walk on a runway, and attend “go-sees” with designers and magazine editors.
One model was voted off each week by a panel of judges including Helfer, Fashion Television host Jeanne Beker, celebrity hair and makeup stylist Paul Venoit, and Toronto model Stacey McKenzie.
America’s Next Top Model photoshoot director Jay Manuel appeared in the finale as guest judge.
The show filmed months ago and Muizelaar was finally able to celebrate her victory Wednesday night following the finale’s airing. Her hair has changed from the red and cropped style she had on the show to deep brown and longer.
“It’s been absolutely crazy, you know, not being able to say anything to my friends and other family members other than my immediate family,” she said Wednesday night as she attended a party in her honour. “It’s been a big secret.”
In winning, Muizelaar received a modeling contract from Sutherland Models, a $100,000 beauty contract from Procter & Gamble and an editorial spread in Fashion Magazine.
She’s scheduled to stop at Sears in the Toronto Eaton Centre on Friday and at St. Vital Centre in Winnipeg on Saturday.
