KATHLEEN ELIMINATED DURING TWO-HOUR PREMIERE OF "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL" ON THE CW

March 1, 2007 (Burbank, California) - Kathleen, a hairstylist from Brooklyn, NY, was the first girl eliminated during the eighth cycle premiere of The CW's hit reality series "America's Next Top Model," reducing the pool from 13 girls to 12. Catch an exclusive interview on www.cwtv.com with Kathleen on "America's Next Top Model Close Up" presented by CoverGirl on Friday, March 2.

After the field was narrowed down to 13 finalists, the girls were sent to their first photo shoot with Nigel Barker as their photographer. Jay Manuel assigned each of them a different political view, and while several of the girls struggled with their shoots, Kathleen had an especially difficult time as she attempted to portray "anti-fur." Though Jay and Nigel offered numerous suggestions, they felt that Kathleen was falling short. "I think Kathleen was confused by the whole anti-fur concept. She didn't embrace that it was a political view," Nigel said.

The next day, the girls were sent to a runway challenge and charity fashion show for Goodwill Southern California, where they were met by J. Alexander. After choosing their own outfits, they walked the runway to auction off their clothes to the highest bid. Kathleen felt very comfortable during the whole challenge. "I rock at thrift shops. I felt like I rocked on that runway. The crowd was loving me," said Kathleen. "She was straight up Brooklyn hoochie with a twist. The twist is that she has a great personality," J. said. At the end of the runway challenge, Jael received the highest bid, and won a style make-over with fashion stylist Phillip Bloch.

During the judging, Tyra expressed her overall disappointment with the results of the shoot. The judges were concerned the most with Kathleen and were not sure she would be able to handle the intensity of the modeling world. "The girl with a bright spirit and hair to match that just lost the map," Tyra said to Kathleen, before eliminating her from the race to become "America's Next Top Model."

In addition to a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl, this year's prize package for the winner of The CW's "America's Next Top Model" will include a contract with Elite Model Management and a cover and six-page fashion spread in Seventeen magazine.

The eighth cycle of the hit series "America's Next Top Model" on The CW follows 13 young women as they attempt to prove they have what it takes to make it in the high-stress world of modeling. Banks, who created the show, also serves as executive producer along with Ken Mok ("Making the Band") and Anthony Dominici ("The Amazing Race").

"America's Next Top Model" airs Wednesdays, (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on The CW. For more information about "America's Next Top Model" log on to http://www.cwtv.com/.