After declaring deaf model Nyle DiMarco as the "America's Next Top Model" cycle 22 winner, Tyra Banks was asked who her favorite "ANTM" contestants are. Based on her answer, her favorite models are those who do not fit the traditional definition of a model.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Banks said what she is really proud of is "ANTM" physically and emotionally "extending the definition of beauty." Here are six of the "ANTM" contestants she mentioned as her favorite models who joined the modelling competition show she created:
1. "ANTM" cycle 10 winner Whitney Thompson
Being the first plus-size "ANTM" winner, Banks calls Thompson a "fiercely real winner. In hindsight, the earlier explained that having the latter win the modeling competition show was really special to her because they were "way ahead of the curve."
2. "ANTM" cycle 3 third placer Amanda Swafford
Despite having retinitis pigmentosa and being legally blind, Swafford took "the most gorgeous photos," according to Banks.
3. "ANTM" cycle 9 fourth runner-up Heather Kuzmich
Kuzmich had ADHD and Asperger syndrome, which she was diagnosed with around the time her father died.
4. "ANTM" cycle 12 eighth placer Tahlia Brookins
Brookins was burned as an infant. When she joined "ANTM" cycle 12, many viewers claimed she was cast strictly as a stunt.
5. "ANTM" cycle 2 runner-up Mercedes Scelba-Shorte
Scelba-Shorte had an autoimmune disease called lupus.
6. "ANTM" cycle 7 winner CariDee English
English had psoriasis and she is currently a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation.
After mentioning Thompson, Swafford, Kuzmich, Brookins, Scelba-Shorte and English and their conditions, Banks noted that the list goes on and on and she is really proud of that because she really wanted to show girls that "beauty is not cookie-cutter."
Meanwhile, Banks recently confirmed to Variety that she is set to reprise her role as Eve in "Life-Size 2," a sequel to the 2000 Disney film, in which she played a Barbie doll brought to life opposite Lindsay Lohan as her owner.