#13 – Bello Sanchez
Bello is essentially the male version of Courtney; suffering from pretty much all the same flaws. I think there are too many things working against him, and I’m not sure he can overcome it. Male modelling is probably stricter in standards than it is for girls, especially nowadays. Bello’s body is far more designed for high fashion, but like with girls, that is notoriously specific in the body type, and Bello is nowhere near tall enough. He is essentially written off from runway, and castings are going to be challenging. What puts him ahead of Courtney is that I think Bello’s features are more striking, and adaptable. He didn’t excel in many of the photoshoots, but he did alright in varying his style, proving surprisingly adept in areas I wouldn’t expect, like the commercial.
Bello’s worst shot shouldn’t be much of a surprise. I have made my opinions about the possessed shoot pretty clear, and they have not softened since I ranked them. Bello looks ridiculous in his shot, and there is nothing even slightly modelesque. I can’t believe the judges didn’t oppose his comical stylings more, but then again, I didn’t agree with them the majority of the time. His strongest photos tended to come when he wasn’t really doing that much. In his bound photo with Lacey he looked strong and commanding. His physicality is so strong it manages to give Lacey some solid competition, even if I think she edged him out. It really was a success. Other options would be his dogs shot, for essentially the same reasoning.
I can’t help but feel the judges were under some delusion if they thought Bello really had what it took to succeed. I am all for a model being unique, but Bello took it to new levels. It just got even more ridiculous with his long weave. At that point Bello was definitely being brought along for reality TV, rather than a potential winner. He outlasted so many others who actually had potential, and it is a solid reason Cycle 22 really seemed like a weak point for me.