Last week, the CW debuted its typically crazy promo video for the new — the sixteenth — season of America’s Next Top Model. Today the network unleashed the first cast photo of the fourteen would-be supermodels, and they’re all wet — which can’t be good for their outfits, but will hopefully be great for their careers.
The CW has released only first names of the contestants so far, but we and lots of other fans on the Internet have identified the hot blonde in the front left as Kasia Pileciwz, a plus-size model who was signed with Wilhelmina Models’ “W Curve” board. Top Model contestants are prohibited from agency representation during their participation on the show, so Kasia — who featured in V’s Size Issue last year — must have given this up. When asked to comment, a W Curve booker at Wilhelmina said that Kasia was “on hiatus … for a TV show,” but couldn’t divulge further details. So a real model is on the show this season — a real model who met and smized with Tyra already, at a press breakfast for season 15 last year. Maybe this will up her chances of winning the prize — the same as last season’s — a contract with IMG and a spread in Italian Vogue.