“Germany’s Next Topmodel”
Heidi’s endurance test in the wind tunnel causes six models to stumble
Seventh strong: Heidi Klum with guest juror and supermodel Winnie Harlow (l.)
© ProSieben / Sven Doornkaat
First she sent her models into the wind tunnel, then into a sea of tears. In episode ten, Heidi greatly reduced the field of participants.
In the previous episodes of “Germany’s Next Top Model” (Thursdays, 8:15 p.m. on ProSieben or on Joyn), Heidi Klum (50) often gave mercy and sent all the models one round. In episode ten she looked even stronger. In an extremely challenging fashion walk, Heidi exposed her models to 20 wind machines on the runway. In the end, six models had to pack their bags. The farewell was correspondingly tearful.
From a village in Syria to a Germany-wide underwear model
Candidate Grace (24) spent her youth in a Syrian village. In 2015 she managed to escape together with her severely disabled aunt. They took a boat across the Mediterranean to Greece and finally to Germany. At the casting of the Italian underwear label Intimissimi there was no sign of her dramatic life story. Instead, Grace exuded relaxedness and joy of life. During the casting, the female models were asked to showcase their morning routine. In addition to the top favorite Kadidja (21), who was once again completely convincing, Grace was best received by the customer and grabbed the job. As the face of a Germany-wide underwear campaign, she is following in the footsteps of superstar Jennifer Lopez (54), model mom Heidi Klum and her daughter Leni Klum (19).
Mom of four Stella wins TikTok competition
Before the big and dramatic fashion walk finale, Heidi wanted to bring fun and relaxation to the luxurious model shared apartment. She offered a $500 shopping prize for the model who produced the best short video under the motto “I am unique.” The models only had one smartphone for each and four hours of time. What was intended as a relaxed change turned into group stress. Some models took too much time during the first-person shoot and thereby blocked the creativity of others. So little teamwork didn’t just annoy Dominic (20) and Lucas (24). The male favorites Armin (27) and Frieder (24) as well as Stella (34) solved the task best. Her short parody about her double life as a mother of four and aspiring top model received the biggest applause. In the end, Stella and Frieder won the prize money.
Four shaky candidates stumble
After the funny video shoot, things got dramatic: Heidi had a seemingly endless catwalk set up in a monstrous industrial hall. The monster runway was to become the path of fate for half a dozen models. First, Heidi, supported by Canadian supermodel Winnie Harlow (29), asked the wobbly candidates from episode nine to take part in the mega walk: For Jana (25), Nuri (22), Stella, Dominik (28), Felix (20) and Yusupha was about everything. While Dominik and Stella were initially able to preserve their chances, Jana, Nuri, Felix and Yusupha suffered an early exit before the episode finale. The other models responded to Heidi’s tough decision, partly in disbelief and partly in tears.
20 wind machines blow six models out of the water
For everyone who remained, the toughest test so far was to come: Heidi had 20 wind machines aimed at the winding catwalk. The models had to pose skillfully five times with their heads wrapped in a black cloth and convince Heidi and Winnie with their steadfastness and charisma. While guest juror Winnie Harlow felt “goosebumps” during Frieder’s walk and said shooting star Lea (24) had “a lot of self-confidence”, others were clearly noticeable about the uncertainty during the balancing act in the storm. “Girl, you’re running for your life here now,” thought wobbly candidate Stella. She saved herself into the next round.
For Dominik, on the other hand, the final end came. The stunned Armin lost his two closest people in an episode with Dominik and Jana. Lilli (23), who had to improvise too much on the runway due to the wind, was also over in episode ten. The fact that they had to say goodbye to a total of six colleagues in one episode was too much for some models. The joy of making progress became irrelevant and the tears flowed freely. Aldin (22) summed it up for everyone: “Nobody goes to sleep smiling today. The mood is very, very depressing.” Episode eleven next week will show how quickly the models find their smile again.