America's Next Top Model Stories That Ended In Tragedy

The following article includes allegations of domestic abuse, suicide, and substance use. 

For years, "America's Next Top Model" was the crème de la crème of reality TV. Fans couldn't get enough of Tyra Banks' no-nonsense approach to finding the next superstar of the catwalk. The intensity of the show and its colorful selection of hopefuls over the years was a cause of controversy. While there have been many success stories, some competitors had their dreams of a better life turned upside down, both during and after the series. Sadly, the franchise has done more harm than good in some cases, with models going on to live through tragic events with sometimes devastating outcomes.

Even the show's judges haven't always been immune to headline-making unsavory events, but the competition proved to be an unstoppable force regardless. Though the series was given the ax by The CW in 2015, there was still an appetite for the drama. As a result, VH1 brought the show back, this time with British singer Rita Ora at the helm. The revival wouldn't last though, and the show aired its final season in 2018. But the mark "America's Next Top Model" left on some of its contestants is undeniable and ever-lasting. Let's take a look at these tragic stories.

Fans may remember Jael Strauss from Cycle 8 of the series when it was in its prime. The hopeful was entertaining to watch, but she didn't come close to winning the competition. After the show wrapped, Strauss began to unravel and experienced substance dependency issues. Her downfall was so intense that she even appeared on "Dr. Phil" in 2015 to get help, revealing she was homeless. It was her family, mother Debbie and brother Brandon, who persuaded her to seek Dr. Phil's aid, but her condition was arguably unstable as footage showed her grappling with the staff. Thankfully, Strauss did manage to overcome her problems with methamphetamine. 

Though she was thriving sober, Strauss was dealt another devastating blow in 2018 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. A GoFundMe page set up for her at the time read, "It has metastasized and spread beyond the breast tissue. She has just begun chemo, but we do not know how things will play out." Strauss' condition declined rapidly, and by November she was in a hospice receiving care. "First night in hospice," she wrote on her Facebook page. "So many things I never knew about life. Or death. So many things." Strauss died on December 4th, 2018.

The shocking death of Mirjana Puhar is one of the biggest scandals in "America's Next Top Model" history. Puhar, who fled to Charlotte, North Carolina, as a child with her family to escape Serbia, appeared in Season 21 of the show in 2014. While she didn't win, she was a memorable contestant thanks to her empowering story and striking looks. Puhar was just 18 years old when she made a grab for the $100,000 Guess campaign prize. She should have had her whole life in front of her, but Puhar's future was cruelly taken away just a year later when she was shot and killed along with two other young victims, Jusmar Isiah Gonzaga-Garcia and Jonathan Cosme Alvarado. 

One of the shooters, Edward Sanchez, was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the crime, while Emmanuel Rangel was given three consecutive life sentences. The felons reportedly shot Puhar when she answered the door of an apartment before they moved on to kill the other two people inside. Sanchez and Rangel knew the victims, as Alvarado was a heroin dealer. In another tragic twist, the bodies were discovered three days after the events unfolded.

Renee Alway did well in Cycle 8 of the show in 2007, getting within touching distance of the crown but ultimately coming in third. The stunning blond beauty radiated "Girl Next Door" vibes, so it's hardly surprising that she did so well in the competition. Life took an unexpected turn for Alway after her time in the spotlight when she was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to 12 years behind bars for burglary. It's a surprising twist to the tale of a young, glamorous catwalk queen who was once a popular face on reality television.

Alway's issues came down to a battle with substance dependence, which resulted in homelessness and turning to crime. Her charges included four burglary counts, vehicle theft, and possession of a firearm as a felon. Alway went on somewhat of a rampage in Palm Springs, and originally had several other charges levied at her before they were dropped. In 2015, she spoke to CBS Local 2 about the circumstances leading up to her arrest, via KESQ.com. "It was bad," she admitted. "It took a whole SWAT team to take me down. That's horrible. Horrible." 

During the interview, Alway admitted that she had been struggling with her sexuality, and felt like it impacted her career in fashion. "That was probably one of the main reasons that I hated myself so much. Because, especially in the fashion industry, and in the modeling world, you're expected to ... be a certain physical type," she lamented. 

Not many hopefuls had what it takes to even apply for "America's Next Top Model." It was a cutthroat series, but when Dustin McNeer appeared on Cycle 22, he was in with a fighting chance thanks to his sculpted jawline and perfectly tousled blond locks. He was so well-liked that even though he was eliminated early on in the show, he won a comeback spot to return. He may not have won, but that was still a worthy achievement. While McNeer could've been on the cover of magazines, he ended up making headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2019, when he was arrested after a domestic scuffle.

The incident, which took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, reportedly happened after McNeer spotted something he didn't like on his girlfriend's phone and grabbed it from her. When she tried to protest, McNeer allegedly kicked her in the chest, while also shattering her phone. When the authorities turned up a few days later, McNeer's girlfriend claimed that he had also threatened to make intimate videos of her public. McNeer was subsequently arrested and held on bond. The former model is now a bodybuilder and online coach, who looks worlds away from the man we saw on our TV screens.

"America's Next Top Model" contestants have even less privacy than you might think while they're on the show, but this often carries on after the cameras have stopped filming, too. Angelea Preston tried her luck on two cycles and was eliminated both times, but she won the "All Stars" season in 2011. It should've been a life-changing moment for Preston. She told Bustle in 2022, "I hugged the other girls, but at the same time I was like, 'Bye, y'all! Peace out! Y'all can go! I just won, and my life is about to start!'" However, Preston's joy was short-lived when her title was revoked. When the final aired, Tyra Banks announced that Preston was eliminated under "unusual circumstances," but didn't elaborate. Lisa D'Amato was given the crown and the prizes that should've been going to Preston. 

During her time after her initial stints on the show, Preston unwittingly fell into escorting when she met a man on the street. In the same interview with Bustle, she claimed she was naive and didn't initially realize what was happening until it was too late. When she was contacted about appearing on "America's Next Top Model: All Stars," she spoke with producer Michelle Mock. "To my understanding, she knew [about the escorting], but she wasn't going to say anything to anyone else," Preston explained. "It was going to be our little secret." 

A few weeks after Preston won the show, other producers asked her about her past, before taking back the crown. In one last bid to try and tackle what she felt was an injustice, Preston filed a lawsuit against the show claiming she was mistreated on set and should've been the rightful winner. She ultimately dropped the suit in 2018. "I realized I wasn't going to win," Preston told Bustle. "I didn't get any money from it. The only good thing that happened [was that] people knew I was the winner."

Kim Rydzewski didn't have the best experience on Cycle 10 of "America's Next Top Model" and ended up quitting the competition before she could get eliminated. When Tyra Banks asked Rydzewski outright whether she wanted to be there at all, she replied, "To be honest, the whole fashion thing, it does not interest me at all." Needless to say, the judges were shocked, with Banks reminding her that she had given her a spot over women that desperately wanted to be on the show. The exchange ended in Banks asking Rydzewski if she would prefer to go home, to which she agreed and left.

Later, the blond beauty appeared on "The Tyra Banks Show" to chat with the host about the real reason she left in such an abrupt manner. "It sounded so crazy [the reason I gave] because it wasn't true," she said (via YouTube). "The real reason was three months before the show, my ex-boyfriend committed suicide. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever gone through." As if that wasn't tragic enough, Rydzewski revealed that her mother also died by suicide when she was a little girl. In another sad twist of events, the model suffered the same fate in 2016. In a Facebook post after her death, Rydzewski's then-partner confirmed that she died by suicide after taking an overdose.

Every now and then, you hear about former "Top Model" contestants who live an incredibly lavish life. While the vast majority of hopefuls only get a quick 15 minutes of fame, some manage to carve out successful careers for themselves. One of them is Lisa D'Amato, the winner of Cycle 17's "All Stars" edition. Though D'Amato only won because of Angelea Preston's disqualification, she went on to model for various campaigns and proved she was a worthy wearer of the crown. With that being said, D'Amato has faced multiple hardships over the course of her life, including childhood trauma, and her initial stint on the show in Cycle 5 caused her some serious problems.

When the show ended, D'Amato turned to drugs like cocaine, magic mushrooms, and marijuana to escape. To try and get well, D'Amato appeared on "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew Pinsky in 2010. Thankfully, she turned her life around and was able to win "All Stars" in 2011, but that didn't stop D'Amato from taking aim at Tyra Banks for supposedly mistreating her and other contestants during the show's run. In 2021 she said via Instagram that she previously breached her contract after Cycle 5 to warn others about the experience by talking to E! "What you guys do and the way that you guys would poke me and use my childhood trauma against me day in and day out — it was just so f***** up and it broke my heart," she said, addressing Banks directly.

The real reason "America's Next Top Model" was canceled is complex, but it's not a stretch to assume that it was thanks in part to the problems contestants faced after their time on the show. In 2010, the former Cycle 10 hopeful Atalya Slater found herself in hot water after a heated altercation in a nightclub. A witness told Page Six, "This girl was trying to take her jacket from a booth when Slater started to grab it. She thought it was hers. They started playing tug of war over it, and then, all of a sudden, she started slamming the girl in the head."

Security managed to intervene before things went too far, and reportedly detained Slater in the club until authorities arrived on the scene to take her away. As for the victim, she was taken away in an ambulance to receive medical attention. The violent turn of events was enough to sully Slater's name, with media outlets picking up on the story. Despite initial reports, Slater's attorney Justin Blitz was quick to set the record straight with Page Six a few days after the story broke. "Ms. Slater was not the instigator of the incident," Blitz explained. "The truth will come out at trial, and she looks forward to clearing her name then." The outcome of the case isn't clear. 

There are plenty of things that "America's Next Top Model" contestants had to do to win the competition, and staying on the straight and narrow was one of them. Cycle 19 contestant Kiara Belen did well on the show, coming within touching distance of the crown in second place. However, in 2014, she had a brush with the law that eclipsed her time on the series. LAPD stopped her after spotting her driving erratically in Los Angeles, and Belen was found to be driving under the influence. 

Belen was hauled to the police station for further investigation but kept quiet about the incident in the years that followed. Despite her success on the show, Belen didn't become a household name. She continued to work as a model and a model coach, founding The Fashion Life Tour, a program that provides training for modeling hopefuls and designers alike.

Let's rewind all the way back to Cycle 1 of the show. Elyse Sewell was one of the most prominent cast members thanks to her bad girl attitude. She even struck up a relationship with a musician, keyboardist Marty Crandall from The Shins. In 2008, the love affair turned sour when the pair were embroiled in a violent dispute in a hotel room. At the time, Sewell posted a LiveJournal entry that showed photographs of her bruises, as well as an explainer that Crandall was allegedly intoxicated when he assaulted her. "[I] escaped from the room through a blitzkrieg of violence," she wrote, via NME. 

Crandall was arrested, but police also took Sewell into custody when he showed them that she had bit him. Sewell was released without bond, while Crandall was kept under lock and key with a hefty $25,000 bail. The charges against them both were later dismissed as there wasn't enough evidence to continue. Sewell posted on her LiveJournal following the announcement via NME, "The D.A. has rejected the case against me. I am free. I wish the same outcome for Marty and have no intention of pursuing any further legal action. I would not wish entanglement in the widening gyre of the American legal system upon my worst enemy."

We all have our own opinions on which "America's Next Top Model" contestants should have won but it's the judges who get to usher through the final hopefuls. Back in Cycle 19, Rob Evans landed a spot on the panel. The British former boxer was a breath of fresh air, but his time on the series was threatened when his past came back to haunt him. Two years before he secured his position on the reality show, Evans got into a fight with one of his housemates which resulted in a physical altercation. During an "On the Edge" podcast interview in 2024, Evans said, "He hit me, so I hit him back. I had to leave the agency apartment but then I just went on about my business and he did the same."

Evans thought the incident was over and done with until he found fame on "America's Next Top Model." Just five days after his first episode aired, his former housemate, Landry Macedo, pressed charges. "They charged me for assault with a deadly weapon," he said on the podcast. "The deadly weapon was my fist because I had boxed in the past." Evans' world came swiftly crashing down, as he lost lucrative deals with Nike and even potential acting contracts. Evans managed to cling onto his "America's Next Top Model" gig for one more season before he was replaced and faded into obscurity.

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