“GNTM” is already in its 19th season. For these former candidates, the casting show was a springboard.
This year Heidi Klum (50) is looking for “Germany’s next top model” for the 19th time. For the first time, men are also allowed to take part in the casting show. Numerous former candidates prove that you don’t always have to win in order to be successful later – Rebecca Mir, Sarina Nowak and Soulin Omar, among others, have successfully mastered their path.
The ambassadors
Sara Nuru (34), the winner of the fourth season, is passionate about Ethiopia. With her work, the Erdinger native helps local women build a self-determined existence. In 2018, Nuru founded her non-profit organization nuruWomen eV, which focuses on the promotion of women in emerging countries. In the same year she was appointed ambassador for fair trade by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2023, the model announced that she had become a mother. However, she keeps details of her happiness as a mother private. In September of the same year she married the media entrepreneur Michael Wanner (40).
Marie Nasemann (34) made it to the “Germany’s Next Top Model” final in 2009. Afterwards she was not only successful as a model, but also as an actress and author. In 2010 she landed a guest role in the former ARD soap “Marienhof”. She was also seen in ZDF productions. Most recently she starred in the German feature film “Sometimes I suddenly think of you” (2024). However, the 33-year-old has now made a name for herself primarily as a fair fashion activist. She has been providing information about sustainable fashion since 2014 on her fair fashion information platform “Fairwickelt”. She is also an ambassador for the non-profit organization Conservation International and published her book “Fairschnell: My Green Compromise” in 2021. Since 2021, Nasemann has also been running the podcast “Three is a Party” with her husband Sebastian Tigges, which was renamed “Four is a Party” in 2022. Together they have a son born in 2020 and a daughter who was born in 2021.
Anna Wilken (27) is also committed to an important issue: endometriosis. She is an influencer with 480,000 followers and primarily uses her reach to educate more people about the still unexplored disease. The former “GNTM” candidate also wrote a book about it. “As a rule, I am strong” is intended to help women with the disease. Wilken also speaks openly with her followers about her desire to have children with her husband Sargis Adamyan (30). She also discusses her miscarriages to encourage other women. After many setbacks, the model gave birth to a son in August.
The moderators
Lena Gercke (35) was the first to ever win the title in 2006. Since then it has been hard to imagine the German media landscape without it. After her victory, she hosted the first four seasons of “Austria’s Next Top Model” from 2009. Together with Thore Schölermann (39), she also hosted “The Voice of Germany” from 2015. She left the show six years later. In 2019 and 2021, Gercke will also return to “Germany’s Next Top Model” as a guest juror. But the entertainer is not only successful as a model and presenter: in 2017 she was heard as the voice actress for Smurf Blossom in the film “The Smurfs – The Lost Village”. In 2019 she also launched her own fashion label LeGer by Lena Gercke with About You. With LeGer, she now not only designs clothes, but also sells her own make-up and furniture. In 2020 she made her relationship with the director and film producer Dustin Schöne (38) public. Daughter Lia (2) was born in December 2022. Their first child, daughter Zoe (3), was born in July 2020.
Rebecca Mir (32) came second in 2011. The following year she hosted the Oscars alongside Annemarie Carpendale (44). Since then she has appeared on “taff” on ProSieben. Even after her maternity break, she returned to her usual format. In April 2021, the model had a son with her husband Massimo Sinató (43). The two met and fell in love during Mir’s participation in “Let’s Dance”.
Lou-Anne Gleissenebner-Teskey (20) was named “Germany’s Next Top Model” by Heidi Klum in 2022. In March 2023 she graced the cover of the March issue of Imirage magazine. The winner was featured in the magazine with a multi-page photo series. She was in the “GNTM” final with her mother Martina (52). The two have already run their own joint show “Be more, be you” on the Austrian streaming service Zappn, in which the mother-daughter team helps others to jump over their own shadows, dare to try new things and change their own lives.
The reality actresses
The winner of the first season of “Austria’s Next Top Model” (2009), Larissa Marolt (35), was only able to reach eighth place with Heidi Klum in the same year. She appeared in the RTL jungle camp in 2014 and even made it to second place. The model is now also successful as an actress: among other things, she was seen in the Sat.1 telenovela “Anna and Love”. In 2017 she joined the main cast of the ARD telenovela “Sturm der Liebe” in the role of Alicia. She left the series in October 2018, but returned again in 2019. She was last seen in the successful ZDF series “Die Chefin”.
Former candidate Anya Elsner (20) and the then polarizing candidate Gina-Lisa Lohfink (37) can also be seen in reality formats on German television. Elsner moved to the RTL jungle camp in 2024 and came first in “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here!” Place 15. After appearing in various reality shows such as Jungle Camp, “Celebrity Big Brother” and “Adam sucht Eva”, Lohfink even got her own ProSieben documentary soap in 2024: In “The Wedding Bells Ring at Gina-Lisa’s” the bisexual It-Girl is looking within of 90 days for potential husbands or wives to marry their loved one in Las Vegas.
Other “GNTM” colleagues such as Fiona Erdmann (34), Micaela Schäfer (40), Sara Kulka (33), Gisele Oppermann (36), Sarah Knappik (37) and Tessa Bergmeier (34) also took part in the jungle camp after the model show other reality formats.
The models
Barbara Meier (37) won the ProSieben casting show in 2007. Since then she has graced magazine covers and established herself as a model. She also became known through numerous campaigns, for example for the hair care range Pantene Pro-V or the fashion house C&A. In addition to her modeling career, Barbara Meier is also active as an actress: in 2010, Meier appeared in a film role for the first time, playing the role of the deaf medium Morgana in the ProSieben mystery thriller “Screams of the Forgotten”. The following year he received basic training at the New York Film Academy. In addition to smaller roles in television films, she was also seen in leading roles in various ZDF crime series, short films and alongside Christiane Hörbiger (84). In 2020, Meier was seen in an international film production in the romantic drama “Endless – Message from Chris”. In her private life, the model now has two children, Marie-Therese (3) and Emilia Elise (1), and is married to the Austrian entrepreneur and film producer Klemens Hallmann (48).
In 2009, Sarina Nowak (30) walked the catwalk on “GNTM” to convince Heidi Klum and ended up in sixth place. However, the then 16-year-old looked completely different. The curvy model now stands for body positivity and lives and works in Los Angeles. For the 17th season, the model mom brought the former candidate back as a guest judge.
Alisar Ailabouni (34) won the fifth season of “Germany’s Next Top Model” in 2010. She is one of the winners who celebrated great international success: in September 2011 she walked at London Fashion Week, and a year later Alisar was booked by 17 different fashion labels for New York Fashion Week. To this day, the 34-year-old can be seen on catwalks and in advertising campaigns. The model also diligently provides her over 26,000 fans with snapshots from her life on her Instagram account.
Soulin Omar (24) went into the final of “Germany’s Next Top Model” 2021 as the favorite, but had to settle for third place in the end. However, there is no reason for the young model to give up her career: Since then, Soulin has regularly provided her over 150,000 followers on Instagram with snapshots from jobs, trips and shoots. She has already graced the covers of the German Glamor and the Vietnamese Harper’s Bazaar, among others.
The influencers
The 2014 winner, Stefanie Giesinger (27), is by far the most successful on Instagram. She shares her life with 5.2 million subscribers. She now sells various skin care products under the name “Мой”. She also launched her own fashion brand “nu-in” for sustainable fashion together with ex-partner Marcus Butler (30). The British influencer and the model were a couple for seven years. Giesinger has also been a podcaster since January 2024: under the title G-Spot, she welcomes conversation partners every Wednesday and discusses various topics with them, such as the model of an open relationship.
With her 2.2 million followers, Anna Maria Damm (27) is also at the top of “GNTM’s” list of top influencers. After taking part in 2013, the fifth-place finisher built a career on YouTube and Instagram with her sister. She had daughter Eliana with her boyfriend Julian Gutjahr in 2018. In April 2023, the couple became parents for the second time with their daughter Kaia. In 2020, she launched her own skincare range “AN’DA”.
Fata Hasanovic (28), Anuthida Ploypetch (26), Elena Carrière (27) and Alex Mariah Peter (26) also inspire thousands of followers on their channels and are therefore still successful after “GNTM”.