The fourteen contestants arrived at Paramount Pictures studios in Los Angeles with a New York movie set. They began with Jay Manuel, the show's director of photography, where they met the judges, Nigel Barker, Janice Dickinson, and Nolé Marin. The judges were dressed as the "fashion police" and introduced the contestants to their first photoshoot, Aliens in Manhattan. Many contestants impressed the judges, but Brandy complained about having to wait, which irked photographer Nigel. After the shoot, the girls were driven to the luxurious house that would be their residence for the rest of the cycle. The next day, the girls scaled their weights and measures. Later, they headed to a salon for makeovers. Keenyah complained throughout the process despite loving the end result. Brandy didn't like her eyebrows bleached orange, for that her boyfriend might be disappointed with her new look. Michelle struggled with her makeover which required her to dye her hair blonde, causing her a lot of pain because of the amount of bleach they put in her hair. At the first judging, although Brandy and Keenyah's bad attitudes were frowned upon, Brandy ended up in the bottom two with Brita. In the end, Brita was eliminated because the judges thought that Brandy still had room for improvement, while Brita was unable to mask her age or weight in photos.

• Featured photographer: Nigel Barker
• Special guests: J. Alexander and Redell Scafé

The girls met runway coach, Miss J. Alexander, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where they were taught how to walk in a straight line, up and down gradients while carrying items. While most girls adapted well, Sarah struggled and walked awkwardly throughout the entire duration. The next day, they were brought to Kmart for their reward challenge. They each had to pick an item to use while walking down the supermarket aisle, and the evaluation was elimination style. Rebecca won the challenge and was rewarded with designer shoes by Stuart Weitzman, along with five friends. She picked Kahlen, Sarah, Noelle, Lluvy, and Naima to share her prize. The girls who didn't win the challenge had to serve the other girls while at the Stuart Weitzman store which caused a rift between the girls. This week's photoshoot was for 1-800-Flowers, where the girls posed with a man in the background while controlling ten dogs. Rebecca, Michelle, Keenyah, Lluvy, Tiffany, and Tatiana all excelled, while Brittany, Kahlen, and Sarah had a hard time fitting the character. While Rebecca's photo was being evaluated, she experienced a relapse of her childhood balance disorder and fainted. She was sent to the hospital and everyone decided to continue on with judging and elimination. Keenyah was criticized for her poor appearance but made up for her previous week's poor performance with a stellar photo and received the first call out. Tatiana, Tiffany, Lluvy and Michelle were all praised for beautiful photos, while Kahlen, Brittany, and Sarah were criticized for their mediocre photos. Brittany was criticized for being sexy to the point where it was pornographic in her photos, but Sarah was eliminated for her low self-esteem.

• Featured photographer: Danielle Levitt
• Special guests: J. Alexander, Stuart Weitzman, Danilo, Mathu Anderson, and Sandi Bass
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

The girls were given a ballet lesson. After that, they went to dinner, where Tiffany drank too much and vomited. The next day, they talked with Beverly Johnson. Later, they were taken to a tennis court, where they were told that they were shooting various tennis shots for a big client. Unknown to them, this was actually a test to gauge their response to being under pressure. The "client" was actually an actor who was told to give the girls a hard time. Almost all the girls got frustrated, and Brandy later took out her irritation on Tatiana. After the shoot, Jay Manuel finally revealed that the photoshoot was a test, and Naima has crowned the winner for being the only one who stayed calm under pressure. She picked Kahlen and Tiffany to accompany her on her reward, which was dinner with tennis star Serena Williams. Naima was also given an autographed tennis racquet. In this week's photoshoot, the twelve remaining girls became the twelve signs of the zodiac and were featured in a Warneco calendar.

Brittany redeemed herself by producing a stellar Sagittarius picture. Michelle, Keenyah, Kahlen, and Christina were praised for their pictures. Conversely, Lluvy's Pisces photo was deemed by Tyra as "the worst photo in the history of America's Next Top Model," which landed her in the bottom two along with Brandy, who was eliminated because of her continued bad attitude, despite producing strong photos.

• Featured photographer: Tracy Bayne
• Special guests: Serena Williams, Stefan Wenta, Mike Li, Mathu Anderson, and Beverly Johnson
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

The theme for the week was makeup application, and Jay Manuel met the girls at an art studio and introduced the task. They each had a limited amount of time to rush over to the various CoverGirl stations to apply makeup resembling "haute couture." Naima was the only one to fully grasp the concept and won the challenge. She chose Christina and Lluvy to share in her prize of Lauren Scherr custom-made handbags. Noelle called her mother, describing Michelle's facial blemishes that would not go away. These were suggested to be a "deadly and contagious flesh-eating bacteria that would cause certain death," which caused a wave of fear among the girls who had previously shared makeup with Michelle. The pandemonium continued all the way to the photoshoot, where the girls had to pose as different ethnicities while holding a child for a Got Milk? ad, and Jay quickly sent Michelle for medical attention.

Michelle's blemish problem was revealed to be impetigo, a common bacterial skin infection usually caused by the same strain of bacteria that causes strep throat (Streptococcus pyogenes), and she began a course of topical antibiotic treatments. Because of the possible skin-to-skin contact with children, Michelle ended up posing with a doll, which caused some jealousy among the other contestants who had to pose with heavy, unwieldy children. However, Mr. Jay did recognize the fact that it was still hard for Michelle to pose, even with a doll, because the doll could not interact like a real human child. At judging, Rebecca was called first and Noelle and Lluvy landed in the bottom two. The judges felt that Noelle didn't dress like a model in person (despite okay shots) and Lluvy just couldn't deliver a good picture, but Lluvy was spared.

• Featured photographers: Delaney and Gitte
• Special guests: Lauren Scherr, Paul Thompson, Mathu Anderson, Danilo, Dr. Ronald Moy, and Jim De Yonker
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

Tyra taught the girls about the business side of modeling and introduced her parents. Tyra talked about the ins and outs of the industry and warned the girls against signing a contract without reading or understanding it. After this session, the girls were invited to a CoverGirl Cosmetics industry party, where they were given time to converse with guests and possibly gain contacts. Unknown to them, the party was a secret challenge to see who could leave the best impression. Keenyah won the challenge and chose Brittany to accompany her for a stay at a hotel and spa. For the week's photoshoot, the girls had to pose at an old gas station while being blasted with cold rain and strong winds. Many girls succumbed to the surroundings. To add tension, another girl was added to the background of each contestant.

During judging, while the judges were wowed by Kahlen's strong, fierce photo, they were fed up that Lluvy and Rebecca were both not making any progress. Lluvy was eliminated in her third consecutive appearance in the bottom two, due to her inability to translate her unique beauty into film.

• Featured photographer: Mathu Anderson
• Special guests: Kiara Kabukuru, Eva Chen, Anaïs Lombard, Rachel Hayes, Paul Yocum, Danilo, Don Banks, and Carolyn London
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

The girls were given scripts to read and memorize before having to act in a scene with male model Boris Kodjoe. While many girls flubbed their lines due to anxiety, Naima once again won the challenge. She picked Michelle and Tatiana to share in her prize, which was $10,000 worth of diamonds. For the week's photo shoot, the girls modeled for Wonderbra while depicting a pillow fight scene in bed with a male model Rib Hillis. Most of the girls struggled with the awkward situation, most notably Rebecca, who was in constant worry about her fiancé's reaction. For this week's pre-evaluation test, the girls read a passage filled with fashion-related jargon, testing their improvisational skills as well as fashion knowledge. Tiffany did not even attempt the challenge and gave up. Tyra showed her disappointment in Tiffany, prompting another weak try from Tiffany before she gave up again. This negative response landed Tiffany in the bottom two with Rebecca, whose high-fashion appeal pleased the panel, but who'd clearly struggled with the photoshoot. The judges felt that the girls had all lost their passion and drive and needed a wake-up call. In the end, both Rebecca and Tiffany were eliminated when Tyra pulled out a blank photo, to the shock of all of the girls. Tiffany and Rebecca went over to the rest of the contestants to hug and say goodbye. Rebecca was very emotional, crying while hugging the girls, but Tiffany smiled and lightly joked, saying to them, "Why are you guys looking all sad for?" In the midst of all this, Tyra seemed to be becoming more and more irritated. Tyra called Rebecca and Tiffany back before dismissing them from panel. While she commended Rebecca on her emotion, she criticized Tiffany for her joking attitude. When Tiffany started to explain in a combative manner, Tyra lost her cool and exploded at Tiffany, yelling at her to stop feeling sorry for herself and take responsibility for her own actions. This elimination such making the first time in the history of Top Model to have a double elimination rather than a single elimination.

• Featured photographer: Kwaku Alston
• Special guests: Rib Hillis, Andrea Nachreiner, Larry Moss, and Boris Kodjoe
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

Tyra visited the girls to air out her grievances at last week's shocking elimination. The girls were taught how to conduct interviews. They were then put to the test as they interviewed rapper Eve. Christina was chosen as the winner because of her preparedness and clarity of speech, and won an exclusive interview on Entertainment Tonight. Tatiana also did well but, obviously, she did not win the challenge. Right before they left for the challenge, Kahlen received a message a friend of hers from high school had died. Shaken by this sudden news, Kahlen was further disturbed when it turned out that the next photo shoot would be at a cemetery, where the models portrayed the seven deadly sins while posing in a casket at the bottom of an eight-foot-deep grave. Jay Manuel learned of this and allowed Kahlen to opt-out of the shoot, though it would affect her placement in the competition. After some consideration, Kahlen decided to go ahead and was able to channel her depression into her "sin"—wrath.

For the judging challenge this week, the panel posed as journalists asking the girls questions in a mock press conference for the America's Next Top Model clothing line. The judges found most of the girls let the judges get the better of them. At judging, the judges were stunned-to-death of Kahlen's incredible photo and Tyra told it was clearly one of the best photos ever in the history of the show. Michelle and Tatiana produced bland shots, however, which landed them in the bottom two both for the first time. The judges felt that Michelle had more potential and a desire to win and sent Tatiana home.

• Featured photographer: Johann Wolff
• Special guests: Eve and Jann Carl
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

The girls were driven to an empty parking lot, where their challenge for the week required them to show their "wild side" and posed as animals. Tyra announced that the girls that they would be flying to Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. In the challenge, Brittany's great facial expressions and enthusiasm won her the challenge. Upon landing in South Africa, the girls met with Tyra, who explained the importance of South Africa in the modeling world. They were treated to traditional Zulu dancing and a scenic safari ride. At the end of en safari, Brittany was told that, as the winner of the challenge, she could pick two friends to stay with her in luxury accommodation at the safari park. She chose Christina and Keenyah, leaving the other three to rough it out and sleep in a tent in the wilderness. Ironically, as Kahlen, Naima, and Michelle bonded in their tents, Brittany, Christina, and Keenyah had to deal with a bug infestation problem at their hotel.

For the photoshoot, the girls had to pose as animals in the South African safari with a crocodile for Lubriderm. Kahlen was a springbok, Naima was a cheetah, Michelle was a zebra, Christina was an ostrich, Keenyah was an elephant and Brittany was a giraffe. Mr. Jay told Christina that this was her best shoot to date and told Kahlen that once again that she excelled. After the photoshoot, the girls arrived at Cape Town and they arrived at a seaside hotel.

At panel, the judges were once again amazed by Kahlen and her portrayal of the springbok, the national animal of South Africa. They also were amazed by Christina's photo but said once again that she lacks personality in person. Keenyah's weight issue and Michelle's inability to handle pressure landed them in the bottom two. Despite having a strong photograph, Michelle was eliminated.

• Featured photographer: Gerda Gennis
• Special guests: J. Alexander, Pierre Kameel, Shelton, and Mathu Anderson
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

For their challenge, the girls went on go-sees and met several designers in Cape Town. Several made comments about Keenyah's weight problem, but in the end, she won the challenge and picked Brittany to accompany her to designer Craig Port's house. Naima was the only one who missed the 4:30 p.m. deadline by 45 minutes. She got criticized for it because she felt it was important to go on every go-see. This episode revealed the first crack in Brittany and Keenyah's seemingly solid friendship. Brittany unwittingly stole the show from Keenyah at Craig Port's party, getting drunk off many glasses of wine and ending the evening mimicking the doggy style sex position with Craig Port while the other guests looked on and laughed. Keenyah regretted bringing Brittany along. For this week's photoshoot, the girls were taken deep into the South African jungle, and they stopped at a picturesque waterfall for their shoot. They had to make their own outfits from their surroundings, including leaves and mud. Brittany flopped around in mud to make her outfit. At judging, the girls were told to critique each other's photos, and state who they felt had the most and least amount of potential, with Kahlen receiving most praise and Christina the least. Kahlen and Naima amazed the judges with their acute fashion-based analysis, while Brittany's comments lacked insight, landing her in the bottom two with Christina who found herself in the bottom two for the first time. Although Tyra referred to Christina as "the girl with a heart of an angel," the judges found her persona "icy cold." That, and her inability to mask this in front of the panel got her eliminated.

• Featured photographer: Anton Robert
• Special guests: Craig Port, Jackie Burger, Jim De Yonker, Mathu Anderson, Paola Devito, Charlene Witte, Jo Carlin, Christiaan Gabriel Du Toit, and Gavin Rajah
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

The reward challenge this week required the contestants to learn the traditional South African dance and performed it in front of a live audience. Keenyah told the South African dancers that she felt like she was "home," and that she had much more of a connection with South Africa since she is the only black girl, which Naima took offense to as she was half-black. Naima got her fourth challenge win of the season and won thirty extra frames for the photoshoot. She was allowed to pick friends to share with her the reward of extra frames, and Kahlen was strategically left out due to Naima perceiving her as the biggest threat.

The girls were brought to Robben Island and see Nelson Mandela's cell afterward. Keenyah, who felt a connection with her roots in Africa, and hearing of Mandela's ordeal for democracy, cried, even though she didn’t know whether Nelson Mandela was alive or not. This irked the girls, most notably Brittany, who was irritated that Keenyah whined to her how great Mandela was but did not even know whether he was alive or dead. At the prison, the guide passed a key to Naima to open the cell, which upset Keenyah because she thought that it was her birthright. The bad air was cleared momentarily as the final four soaked in the history of the location. After this, the girls were brought to Mandela's residence, where they listened to Mandela's advice and philosophy.

Later, Brittany attacked Keenyah as “selfish” for getting upset because she didn’t get to open Mandela’s cell and accused Keenyah of only wanting to open the cell because she was black. Keenyah defended herself, saying that it was an “emotional moment” for her and Brittany “did not know how (she) felt at that moment”. Back at the hotel, Keenyah denied that she was upset that she didn’t get to open the cell because of her race, but the fight reduced Kahlen to tears.

For the photoshoot, the girls posed while dancing with male models. Naima and Brittany excelled, but Keenyah got disturbed when her male model touched her and grunted in her ear, and confronted him after the shoot. Kahlen, who up until now was producing stellar photos, had her worst photoshoot ever, and admitted that she still wasn't comfortable "being sexy." On the drive back, Keenyah complained about the incident with the male model. The girls, already irritated by her actions throughout the day, ignored her. When she touched on the subject about the cell, Brittany finally let loose and gave Keenyah a severe verbal lashing. This confrontation took its toll on Brittany, who landed in the bottom two with Naima for her dwindling personality, for her stifled personality, despite both having great pictures. In the end, the judges felt that Brittany's defeated demeanor was too obvious to ignore and she was eliminated in her third bottom two appearance.

• Featured photographer: Johan Wilke
• Special guests: J. Alexander, Alfred Hinkel, Modise Phekouyane, Jackie Manyepelo, Mandela Mokoena, and Bebe
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora

The top three contestants met Jay Manuel and shot a commercial and print ad for CoverGirl. The theme of the commercial was a runway show gone wrong. Kahlen produced what was deemed to be a stunning CoverGirl shot, but her performance in the commercial was moderate. Naima’s Covergirl photo and the commercial were praised by the judges whereas Keenyah, on the other hand, only had a decent commercial and photo. Keenyah was the twelfth girl eliminated in her second bottom two appearance.

• Featured photographer: Helmut Rautenbach
• Featured commercial director: Russel Underhill
• Special guests: J. Alexander, Mathu Anderson, and Gretha Scholtz

For their final runway walk, the girls met Ms. J at a runway partially submerged underwater and were given a course about how to stomp on water. At night, the show began as Kahlen and Naima emerged from behind a waterfall and strutted down the runway together with a bevy of other models. At panel, the judges were torn between the high fashion appeal of Kahlen and Naima's commercial appeal. While they felt Kahlen's pictures had been consistently stronger, Naima was solid in her final runway assessment and did own it. Tyra compared Kahlen to a girl who "did good all semester, but failed to live up to the hype" and Naima to a girl who "did fair during the semester, and killed the final exams." The girls were called back into panel where it was then announced that Naima was the fourth winner of America's Next Top Model.

• Special guests: Gavin Rajah and Robyn Lidsky
• CoverGirl of the Week: Naima Mora^[27]