Okay.... so I know Trojan probably disagrees with this decision, but I absolutely ADORE Ashley and not even Chloe - the girl I was rooting for in Cycle 1 - could take over that. He will call it recency bias but nope! I remember very clearly my feelings for Chloe and looking back on her body of work from that cycle as well as her performances generally, I believe I'm making the right decision here.
Chloe was the runner up in cycle 1, and I always believed she was like robbed, or deserved the win over Gemma, but looking back her photos are actually ridic average? Like woah okay these are beyond basic compared to the quality of shot we have been getting in the last few seasons, so Trojan's point about production values going up is certainly valid!
Chloe got first-call-out in episode 1, and twice more throughout the series, and ended up in bottom 2 twice. She wasn't perfect, but wasn't awful either. The truth with Chloe is that with season 1 I actually distinctly remember getting to the Final 2 and being like "who the fuck are these people?" Gemma, fair to her had a decent portfolio, but they seemed like the most random and unexpected Final 2 to me out of the whole group of girls. And to put this into context, I've been watching America's Next Top Model since it was actually first-time-airing on Australian cable. I am into this shit. I've never missed a season. I pay attention to these bitches, not just wander through a season and go "oh ok". Point being, Chloe - whilst kinda good for the cycle - never stood out really as she had a very meek personality and her wins always felt like one-offs. Like that one girl who does ridic amazing one week and then the next week she's gone.
So we get to the Finale and I decide..... Fuck Yeah go Chloe!! I don't know why I always found Gemma annoying, sorry not sorry Gemma but I don't feel bad because Gemma Who? Do you even work anymore? They did the final runway and then there was this scene where the girls actually went to a local corner shop in the city and used a computer there to go online and for Chloe to comment on how people on the internet thought she had a great walk. (Surprise Surprise, the social activities prevalent in early AusNTM are just not seen anymore, likely because the average age of contestants has dropped SIGNIFICANTLY. In cycle 1 the
youngest girl was 19, the winner being 22. The
OLDEST girl in the Top 4 of cycle 8 was 17, the final 2 both being 16.)
So back to Chloe's phenom walk - it actually was pretty great - better than Gemma's anyway. Chloe looked set to take the competition away but then DARN IT. Gemma's superior portfolio reared its fat uggo head and took the wind right out of Chloe's (and my) sails
and she got lumped with second place.
Sorry Chlo-Chlo. Love you.
Numbers Chosen:
Numbers Eliminated:
Numbers Saved:
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