America’s Next Top Model hosted by the ever popular Tyra Banks has been going for seasons over there, andMonday night was the first episode of a new series.

The aim was to whittle the 32 girls, down to 13 who will get to live in the house and fight it out to be America’s Next Top Model.

Tyra is assisted in this task by her two gay sidekicks Miss J, I could not quite work out if he was transgender or just extremely camp, his title is runway director, and another Jay who is Director of photography shoots.

Tonights episode was just a flash of girls, so it was impossible to get a handle on all of them.

Standouts, by which I mean most controversial, was Dani from Texas who in her audition tape said she was a true blue republican, which meant she was anti-everything, gays, abortion, blacks etc.

Yeah baby well done the host is black, and the sidekicks are gay. She was not that pretty and was only there for the tv value, by being offensive. She however did not make the final 13.

Jade 26 an outspoken New York chick did make the grade. It will be interesting to see how many people she will rub the wrong way in the next few weeks. But that is the point of reality tv, good entertainment.

I was pleased to see the triumvirate did not put through the farm girl Andrea, who kept on crying because she was missing her family, and also appeared to have an eating disorder.

Next week they are in the house, so it will be game on.

Runway to LA is an Australian series with Jordan Loukas the girl who came third in Australia’s Next Top Model, and Charlotte Dawson as her mentor. They are going to go to LA together to see if she can crack that market over there.

I remember Jordan from her work at my local boost juice store, in my spiritual home land Marrickville Metro. She once served me a smoothie it tasted ok, so I wish her well.

The show starts with supposedly A list Charlotte, leaving from her “home” in Point Piper. After a disastrous marriage to Scott Miller, didn’t she slink off with her tale between her legs back to her homeland New Zealand?

Her career was resurrected after being a guest judge on the last season of Australia’s Next Top Model, she was seen as talent, and at one stage was mooted as taking over the hosting role from Jodhi Meares.

Jordan lives with her mother and sister in Marrickville, and Charlotte started hyperventilating once she hit Newtown (for those who don’t know Sydney, Newtown is a fairly trendy inner western suburb) ” Oh my God, I am now in the Western suburbs,” with a sneer in her voice, and her nose upturned. The Point Piper princess act was not working for me considering she had about three big tattoos on her and they were the ones we could see. Hello any tatts on Susan Renouf, or Lady Sonia MacMahon.

Anyway that comment was not going to win her any fans from viewers west of Surry Hills.

The premise of the first episode was for Jordan to get over her many fears and paranoia’s one of which includes a fear of choking so can only eat soft things. So working at Boost Juice must have been good for her. She had to swim with the sharks, have a boot camp work out with a ok looking personal trainer, and an all day photo shoot which included a snake draped over her.

At first I thought Jordan just whinged alot, however after reading an article about her in this weeks NW, she is being really honest, about her not so glamorous past, and the effect it has had on her.

In a nutshell, her mum was really sick when she was 12, she started going of the rails by truanting from Newtown Performing Arts High School, the one Matt Corby did not get into. Pot smoking, then speed taking, and a few run ins with the police.

She appears to be a bit unmotivated considering this is a pretty huge break for her so I hope the whinyness gets out of her voice, unless this is how the producers want to present her, so they can show later on the changes that life coach Charlotte has managed to make.

Also I hope Charlotte’s over acting and hammyness settles down.

On the photo shoot, Charlotte took her to task for having love handles, and her appalling dietary habits.

Fish and chips for lunch, and tea with five sugars. All a big no no.

Next week an old rival Paloma will be entering the mix who says” Why didn’t I get my own show I am much more interesting” To be honest I think she is right. She has attitude with a capital A.

This show will be worth a second viewing.

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