Why Was Angelea Preston Mysteriously Disqualified From America's Next Top Model All-Stars?

Something weird happened on the season finale of America’s Next Top Model: All-Stars last night — and for once, we’re not talking about something Tyra Banks, the always-smizing host of the show did or said. Instead, it was the random disqualification of Angelea Preston, the tall, somewhat-beloved underdog who scratched her way to the top. It was strange that she was suddenly suspended from the show’s competition. Even stranger was the way the situation was addressed on the show: Barely at all. In the clip above, you can watch exactly how the announcement — that Angelea had been dropped from the show — was handled, just as it aired on The CW last night. Pretty fishy, right?

Rumors run rampant, and reasons for her mystery disqualification range from Angelea being punished for bragging on Facebook to model Tyson Beckford accidentally spoiling the finale. In an official statement, The CW states the network learned of Angelea’s mystery problem after production wrapped and as a result, “new scenes were filmed to address this for the audience during the finale.” But if that were true, does that mean they had originally crowned a different winner? Was it Angelea? Was the finale reshot, and did the winner and the runner-up have to fake/act their way through it? (By the looks of ladies in the .gif above, I tend to think so.)

One thing is for sure: Something went down, and the CW isn’t telling us what. ANTM aficionado Rich Juzwiak points out that the show “has no problem humiliating its contestants and making examples out of misbehavior,” and we agree: if all Angelea had done wrong was brag on her Facebook about winning and/or being on the show, Tyra would have made an example out of her, as she’s done to other contestants who defied her in the past. There must be something, um, darker going on that Tyra — or The CW itself — has never had to deal with before. Rich writes, “I have a feeling that it’s something that would have shamed the show far more than Angelea.” We think his “feeling” is probably right. Angelea has kept mum about the situation thus far.

After Angelea was knocked out of the competition, we were left with Lisa “Jumpin’ Jack” D’Amato and Allison “Doe Eyes” Harvard. The clip at left reveals who won the first-ever season of America’s Next Top Model All-Stars. Do you agree with Tyra’s choice? Do you think it was her choice? Or did the network (or Covergirl, or Italian Vogue) step in?

America’s Next Top Model isn’t… [fourfour]
Did the Winner of America’s Next Top Model Get Disqualified for Bragging on Facebook? [Gawker]
‘America’s Next Top Model’ finale ends in controversy [CNN]