America’s Next Top Model finalist Angela Preston, is taking action against the hit shows producers and the network for unfairly disqualifying her after she was chosen as the winner of cycle 17.
Fans may remember that Angela who placed in the top three finalists, was announced on the show as the winner during the finale. However, a first for the show occurred when the producers announced that Angela was disqualified and the titled was given to Lisa D’Amato.
Many speculated that Angelea, who gave birth to her first child months later, was disqualified from the competition because she was pregnant and unable to fulfill the requirements that come along with the “ANTM” title, while some assumed it was due to the fact that Angela revealed via social media who the final three were before the show aired which was against her contract.
Fans were livid, as many rooted for Angela who was the clear winner, and dominated during the all star season. The producers later issued a vague statement regarding Angela’s disqualification:
“After production wrapped on the current cycle of America’s Next Top Model, we learned information that made Angelea ineligible and she was subsequently disqualified from the competition. As a result, new scenes were filmed to address this for the audience during the finale.”
Following the “discovery” the producers grabbed the other two contenders, brought them back and re-shot the finale with Angela no where in sight and explained that she was disqualified. Well, now everything is coming to the light. According to TMZ reports:
Angelea Preston says things started to go South right before she taped the finale of the All-Star season in 2011. According to a lawsuit she’s filing … Preston told producers, confidentially, prior to filming the season she had been an escort for about a year — and that spread like wildfire to the rest of the cast and crew.
After the finale was taped — and Preston had won the grand prize — she says a casting director called and grilled her about the whole escort business. In the suit, Preston says she admitted it, but insists she was a legal escort and not a prostitute. Despite this, Preston was told she had violated her contract and could not be the winner.
Preston says her pay-for-play days were well behind her when she shot the All-Star season, so therefore she did NOT break the contract. She says losing the title cost her a bunch of Vogue spreads, and a $100,000 CoverGirl deal.
She’s suing producers, networks, and studios for breach of contract and says she suffered at least $3 million in damages.
