Judged to be a one-time frontrunner who had faded as the competition went on, Nnenna Agba, a 24-year-old chemist from Houston, TX , became the eighth girl eliminated from the sixth edition of America's Next Top Model during last night's broadcast of the UPN reality show.
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The next morning, the girls met with public relations expert Rachel McCallister, who gave them an intense media training session in which they were taught to maintain confidence and poise while being questioned by members of the press. All of the girls seemed discouraged by the harsh questions that Vanity Fair columnist George Wayne asked during their individual interviews, but Nnenna was deemed to have persevered the best. Although George still felt Nnenna's seriousness and confidence made her appear snobbish, her ability to handle herself under extreme pressure more than offset those concerns, resulting in Nnenna being declared the challenge's winner. As her reward, Nnenna would receive a day of spa pampering for herself and another girl of her choosing. Unsurprisingly, she selected Jade to join her.
After the interviews, Danielle continued to agonize over her tooth gap decision. Then, after calling home and asking her mother for advice, she made a decision: the gap would be closed. One dentist's office visit later, Danielle was back at the house trying to get used to her now barely there gap.
That night, Tyra unexpectedly interrupted the girl's restaurant dinner and revealed that the next time she saw them, they'd all be in a foreign country: Thailand. Needless to say, the girls were excited to learn the news and rushed back home to pack. After the girls arrived in Bangkok, they were whisked off to the beautiful hotel where they would live for the remainder of their time in the competition. Later, they also discovered that Nnenna and Jade's still-unclaimed spa prize had an added twist -- as the challenge's losers, the four other girls were tasked with assisting during the pair's massage and baths.
The next morning, Jay Manuel met the girls at a traditional Thai floating market and conducted a Banana Boat sun tan lotion photo shoot that required each of them to pose upside down as a beautiful mermaid caught in a fish net. Although most of the girls had trouble adjusting to the stomach-crunching harness that held them in mid-air, Nnenna let the discomfort take control, causing her to lose focus during the shoot.
Later the girls were instructed to demonstrate their personality and sell themselves as models in front of the judging panel. Nnenna's lengthy speech dragged on, causing the judges to get bored and question her drive in the competition.
During their deliberations, the judges agreed that while Nnenna was beautiful and had begun the competition as one of the strongest participants, they felt that she failed to grow out of her safe, routine photo shoot performances. After finishing their deliberations and calling the girls back into the room, Tyra announced that Danielle had survived another round, followed by Jade, Sara Albert, and Joanie Dodds -- leaving Nnenna and Furonda Brasfield as the week's bottom two. Although the judges still had doubts about Furonda, she had -- unlike Nnenna -- continued to improve as the competition continued, resulting in the decision to eliminate Nnenna.
"You started this competition at the top of the pack, you had that 'It' thing, but that 'It' thing is fading," Tyra explained to Nnenna before eliminating her from the competition.
