06. Toccara Jones
Posting magazine spreads as picture for these types of post isn’t something I usually like to do, but I made an exception of Toccara, because I think it means a lot in this particular case.
Toccara entered the show to become the very first black supermodel in the fashion industry. I’m not sure whether or not ANTM has ever discovered litteral supermodel (sorry Jade), but Toccara made history by becoming the first black plus size model to appear on a spread from Vogue Italia. It probably is one of the most inspirationnal and touching success story related to ANTM, and that’s why I felt the need to post it alongside my ranking of Toccara.
I’ve rarely seen a character as kind as Toccara on ANTM. She never took part in any of the drama, never acted in a rude or disrepectful manner, always filled the model house with positivity and good energy, and was always there to comfort her fellow contestants. I honestly think it is basically impossible to dislike this woman, she had a pure soul. If I had based this ranking on personnality, I would have given her the top spot without a second of hesitation.
As a model, Toccara proved herself to be a strong contender, and despite not being the best, definitely managed to stood out at some point. Her portfolio was a very consistent one, with some of her photos being excellent ones. She eventually made an appearance on my top 10 photos of the cycle with her Lee Jeans advert, which was a gorgeously brilliant photograph, and where her curvy body, completed by a seductive eye contact, was the star of the picture. But she shone as well in her jamaican swimsuit photograph, Niveau beauty shot and left side of the alter egos photoshoot.
In her last couple of weeks, it seemed like her confidence suddenly nosedived. I think it happened because of her realising how difficult and cruel the fashion industry would be towards a model like her (there was for example the incident of styling during the alter egos photoshoot which might be related to this confidence loss). She started to loose her fire in her picture, and was ultimately eliminated in the last photoshoot before Japan. Even if Tyra said she was outvoted, implying that itw as a judges decision, I feel like it could possibly be because of the Japan fashion market not being receptive at all to Toccara’s type of body, completely taking away from her any chances of winning. I wish the industry wasn’t as narrow minded as that, as I would have saved her over Norelle despite having the worst picture of the week.
It pains me to only set Toccara at the 6th spot, but the top 5 were all incredibly strong models, and I probably would have placed her higher in any other cycle of top model, but here I feel like this is the appropriate spot for her amongst the remaining contestants.














