Cycle 7 winner CariDee English joined Jaslene and Natasha in the runway show, themed "evolution" for Australian fashion label Sass and Bide.
They were then told that their group would have won, and Whitney individually, but due to the circumstances, they selected Sarah as the next best and she won her first reward – double the frames for the week’s photoshoot.
Jaslene started off with a weak walk but ended off strong and natural. In the end, despite having a stronger portfolio overall, Felicia was eliminated because she was getting weaker as the weeks went on, proving that only one bad photo could have a contestant eliminated.
Some memorable auditions included a girl named Micheline, who had at least 20 tattoos on her body, Natasha telling them how she was only 18 when she got married to a man in his forties, and Dionne calling her hair color "1B-30."
Tyra was impressed with Jaslene's variety of poses, but was disappointed with Dionne after Dionne had to be coached through the entire photo shoot. The eighth cycle of America's Next Top Model aired from February 28, 2007 to May 16, 2007, and was the second season of the series to be aired on The CW network. Although Samantha did not win, she expressed her happiness for being there as she missed her own prom.
At judging, only Renee received unanimous praise. Natasha and Brittany arrived back at the modeling agency late, and they were disqualified. Things got heated when Natasha was ganged up by the rest of the girls when Tyra asked them who they felt had the most and least amount of potential. Dionne and Natasha landed in the bottom two, where Tyra lambasted Dionne for not improving enough, as well as not picking herself when Tyra asked who had the most potential (she picked Jaslene); while Natasha was scolded because she didn't manage to hide her weak state while doing the photo shoot, thus producing her worst photo ever. The next day, Tyra visited the girls for a chat, where Renee was criticized by all the girls, but Tyra managed to mediate the problem and allowed Renee to air her grievances.
The judges felt that Diana had no fire and when she was asked why she wanted to be a top model, she answered "just 'cause," and Whitney just couldn't take a good picture. It was Jael who got spared for displaying more potential and having a stronger photo and Kathleen was the first girl sent home of the cycle.
Brittany struggled to remember her lines, because of her short-term memory. It was Brittany's lack of charm in front of the go-see designers that sent her home.
Jaslene impressed the clients the most and won the challenge. Tyra visited both contestants for one-on-one sessions before they prepared for the final runway challenge. At the end of the photo shoot, Jay Manuel commented that the judges would have a hard time deliberating during panel as all the girls exceeded his expectations in delivering strong photos for judging.
The girls met Twiggy and Cycle 7’s Melrose Bickerstaff, where they were told to assign themselves a nickname which they would be using to introduce themselves at a party attended by many influential people in the industry. She talked about how she saw the top she wanted to wear and knew she had to wear it when in fact Sarah did not choose any part of her outfit at all, and even at one point before they were called to pose she had asked Dionne and Renee which outfit was hers. While Natasha had a wardrobe malfunction backstage, the production went on smoothly. Jean attended Texas A&M University–Corpus …
She picked Jaslene to share in her prize of pearl jewelry.
She chose Dionne to share in her prize of a custom-made t-shirt. The next day, the contestants returned to the high school for a photoshoot, where Jay Manuel assigned each of them different high school clichés.
All the girls were praised, but the judges noted differing weaknesses in them – Natasha gave a natural smile only when she was laughing, Jaslene's picture looked like a yearbook photo, and Renee's photographs looked old.
She picked Jaslene to share in her prize of pearl jewelry.
Only Jaslene, Felicia, Samantha, Cassandra and Brittany pulled off good photos, while the rest failed to impress. For the week’s photo shoot, the girls were excited when they saw male models on set, but were surprised when they heard that they were drag queens and would be posing as women, and the girls as men. For the photo shoot, the contestants posed nude, decorated as various types of candy:
Despite several girls producing unsatisfactory pictures, Jael and Kathleen were the bottom two contestants for failing to commit to their characters during their photo shoots. The thirteen finalists had their first photo shoot dealing with the following controversial political issues: In the end, the judges felt that Natasha's "body of work was stronger than Dionne's", dismissing the other girls' criticism against her as jealousy, and Dionne was sent packing. They took the opportunity to talk behind her back, questioning her husband and child. Returning applicant Jaslene (did not make it to The thirteen finalists had their first photoshoot dealing with the following controversial political issues.
At panel, all but Dionne were hailed for their photos. The girls got a crash course in interviewing from Cycle 2 contestant April Wilkner and comedian Gary Riotto, before their international destination was revealed as Sydney, Australia.
Whitney won her first challenge, and her reward was a $40,000 bracelet from Angara. For the week’s photo shoot, the girls posed as crime scene victims, bringing life to the photo while being 'dead':