Tyra Banks has made a show of including plus-size models on
America's Next Top Model, and it's easy to take her to task for the fact that not one has ever made it to the top spot, or even to the final few. However, it also might still be unrealistic at this point to expect that level of acceptance from the fashion industry. So perhaps we should instead just laud Tyra for at least putting images of bigger girls out there that promote them as being beautiful and alluring in their own way alongside the more-slender models.
It could be debated which plus-sized
America's Next Top Model hopeful best represented for the bigger girls, but many would probably put
Toccara Jones in the top spot. She was spunky, radiant, beautiful, and, it seemed, confident and content with herself in a way that many of the skinny models couldn't manage. The judges claimed she lost her spunkiness, but in interviews after
America's Next Top Model, she discounted that idea, saying she had just as much personality when she left the show as when she came in the house.
Since then, she's continued to take that self-confidence and put it to good use pursuing a career in modeling and entertainment. She might be more
King and
Smooth than
Elle and
Vogue, but she's making a living as a model and personality, and continuing to represent for the larger girl.
She does, though, aim to be healthy and fit even if not a size zero, and has appeared on
Celebrity Fit Club in her effort to get herself to her own ideal weight. She's now teaming up with some of the other celebrities from previous seasons, as well as some new faces, for
Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp.
The purpose of the show is to help the celebrities lose stubborn lingering pounds. The
America's Next Top Model alum will join Tina Yothers, Willie Aames, and Dustin Diamond from previous seasons, as well as newbies Erin Moran, Sommore, A.J. Benza, and Brian Dunkleman.
The show is premiering on March 13, which is a big day for Toccara in another way – it will be her 27th birthday.
- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: BlackVoices
(Image courtesy of CW)