Tahnee Atkinson Is Australia’s Next Top Model

For someone who didn’t watch the whole series, I certainly found myself gripped by the Australia’s Next Top Model final last night! And didn’t it have it all? Montages, Mauboys, blood… Yeah, that’s right. I said blood.

With spectacularly bad timing, finalist Tahnee’s nose began bleeding shortly before the announcement of the winner. At first it just looked as though she was holding a tissue to her face because she was highly emotional after having her mother join her on stage, but after host Sarah Murdoch pointed out that Tahnee had a blood nose, I spent the next ten minutes watching the tissue turn from white to red completely enthralled.

The bleeding had stopped by the time the winner was announced, but a terribly sick part of me hoped that the excitement of winning ANTM would kick off another gush from the nose – I actually shouted at the telly “BLEED!” when the camera zoomed in to catch Tahnee’s reaction after becoming Australia’s Next Top Model. There’s clearly something very wrong with me.

Anyway, judge Charotte Dawson (a side note: HOW AWESOME IS CHARLOTTE, I SAY VERY) had said before the finale that she hoped Tahnee would win because of her “ample bosom and sexy bottom” so she must be very happy today. I found myself rooting for Tahnee too, by the end.

But apparently this is wrong! My Twitter feed indicates that Tahnee was the wrong choice because she isn’t “high fashion” or something. I don’t know. She’s a dirty spunk, isn’t that enough? Apparently not. I know nothing of modeling and fash, although I do know that sometimes the word “fashion” is shortened to “fash”, and surely that counts for something?

Here’s someone from brisbanetimes.com.au who seems to know stuff.

Is Tahnee Atkinson Australia’s next top model?

In an ideal world, yes. The girl is unquestionably gorgeous – she’s got an exceptional figure and a smile that stops traffic. She’s professional, well-behaved and determined. Her ‘normal’ beauty is something that a lot of women would love to see more of in fashion magazines.

But in the fickle and unfair world of modelling it probably won’t equal a long-term fashion career. As casting agents politely explained in the show, she just doesn’t have the matchstick-thin figure required by most top designers.

The competition’s runner-up, the ‘boganista’ Cassie Van Dungen, on the other hand, could very likely become our next Gemma Ward. Like Ward, her entire physicality – which can look awkward and gawky in real life – is built to parade beautiful clothing down a runway. Plus she’s got that whole Kate-Moss-crooked-teeth-funny-walk thing going on that designers and photographers adore.

So why didn’t Cassi win?

She was too much of a risky choice. A wall-punching, smoking, tantrum-throwing teenager with a 25-year-old boyfriend beating the healthy, glossy prom queen Tahnee might have been just too hard to sell.

And as judge Charlotte Dawson said, Cassie didn’t seem like she really wanted to win: “At the end of the day I think she would like to take the prize money and move back to Sunbury and marry her boyfriend.”

Charlotte certainly didn’t mince her words last night… which I kinda like.

Who do you think should have won, and why?