The first season of Philippines' Next Top Model aired from March 13, 2007 to June 12, 2007 on RPN.
The international destination for this season was Hong Kong.
The winner of the competition was 22-year old Grendel Alvarado from Arayat, Pampanga.
Cast Contestants (Ages stated are at start of contest) Contestant Age Height Hometown Finish Place Sarah Kae Custodio 19 Laguna Episode 1 14-13 Marjorie 'Marge' Cornillez 18 Antipolo Jean Laurice 'Weng' Santos 18 Pampanga Episode 2 12 Maribel 'Mira' Baino 20 Rizal Episode 3 11 Raine Larrazabal 21 Quezon City Episode 4 10 Gemma Gatdula 24 Pampanga Episode 5 9 Jayna Consolacion Reyes 26 Laguna Episode 6 8 Sheena Sy 24 Makati Episode 7 7 Camille 'Bambi' del Rosario 23 Quezon City Episode 8 6 Dorothy 'Joy' Pagurayan 19 Cagayan de Oro Episode 9 5 Elvira 'Elf' Stehr 19 Cebu City Episode 12 4 (quit) Jenilyn 'Jen' Olivar 21 Las Piñas 3 Rina Lorilla 23 Parañaque Episode 14 2 Grendel Alvarado22 Pampanga 1
Judge Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas (host) Wilma Doesnt Pauline Sauco-Juan Robbie Carmona Vince Uy Xander Angeles
Episode summaries The Girls Get Waxes Original Airdate: March 13, 2007 PNTM started off by auditioning in Davao held by model Wilma , in Cebu held by fashion director Robby Carmona and in Manila held by Wilma , Robby Carmona and top model Rissa Mananquil. 3,300 contestants tried out and the girls were whittled down to 27 for the semi-finals.
The 28 girls who are the semi-finals were flown to Hotel Intercontinental, Makati. The girls took their first challenge, and they met Ruffa Guttierez for the first time. While on the final screening, they faced the judges in panel of Robbie Carmona, Wilma , and Ruffa Guttierez who tested them in runway challenge and questioned why should they be the Philippines' Next Top Model. Finally, the contestants was narrowed down to 14 girls by the judges and the hopeful models were moved to their fashion-modeled house. The girls were given the chance to choose their own room, as well as beds for the entire run of the show. Since there were only 12 beds, the girls race to claim a space for themselves. Unfortunately, for Elf and Jen, they failed to have their beds for themselves and had to sleep in the living room.
The next year the girls got to meet a special visitor, who gave them a Brazilian wax. Most of the girls felt the waxing was too much and complained about it. After their painful waxing, they had their first photo shoot: a bikini shoot at Rizal Avenue, Manila. The photo shoot was conducted with the help of Xander Angeles, a renowned photographer in the Philippines. Also, to help mentor the girls, Joey Mead King was brought on the set.
During panel, the judges felt that both Sarah Kae and Marge both failed to exert effort during the photo shoot. The judges criticized Sara for not having personality in her photo. Marge, on the other hand, was noted for her poorly done performance and lack of personality. Their photos deemed poor by the judges and criticized them on their lack of personality, the reasons given why both of them were eliminated in the competition.
Featured photographer: Xander Angeles Special guests: Joey Mead King
The Girl Who Strikes in Her Attitude Original Airdate: March 20, 2007 The girls got their first runway lesson by Wilma and Robby Carmona and were taught how to walk with attitude. The judges gave the girls animal roles to act out while walking on the runway. Their first challenge was to have a fierce runway walk through mud. Sheena sashayed herself a win and picks Raine, Wen and Gemma to share in her prize. The prize was dinner with top models Joey Mead and Rissa Mananquil.
The next day the girls go to Celine where they each got a free bag of products, but they did not know that the challenge is to pose with those bags and also conducted by Raymund Isaac, and announced that there was a tie in the challenge and who were Grendel and Sheena. They won 25 extra frames in the next photoshoot Later that day, the girls get a Ruffa-text about their next photo shoot. The girls arrived at their second shoot and were told it was a high-fashion shoot involving lingerie. Sheena took center stage with her high fashion photo while Bambi, Raine and Weng were commended on their fierce attitude in the shoot.
During the elimination, the judges felt Mira had emotional baggage due to her grandma having surgery during screening day and lacks passion for the competition. They also felt that Weng had a hard time to find the edgy high fashion look that she has. Because of that, it was Weng who was sent home.
Featured photographer: Xander Angeles, Raymund Isaac (challenge's photographer) Special guests: Joey Mead King, Rissa Mananquil
The Girl Who Is Confused Original Airdate: March 27, 2007 The episode began with the girls getting their makeovers. Afterwards, the L'Oréal make-up team taught the girls how to put on make-up and also how to change daytime look to a nighttime look. They were then given a challenge to do their own make-up inside a moving car in ten minutes. Bambi won the challenge and picked Jen and Elf to share her prize, a dinner in a restaurant and special gifts courtesy of L'Oréal.
The next day the girls were taken on location and were told about their next photo shoot. They were to pose with reptiles while taking a high fashion beauty shoot. Bambi got scratched by an iguana but did well in the end.
At panel, they were once again challenged to do their make-up. This time, they were given ten minutes to put make-up on for a rock star. Joy was praised for her stunning photo and her confidence in person while Elf, Grendel and Jen were praised for their constant improvements during the competition. Mira was chastised for not improving enough throughout the competition and for looking confused in the photo and in panel. Jayna was criticized for not dressing like a model and for not looking like a model in person and was placed in the bottom of two with Mira. In the end, Jayna's stunning photos saved her and Mira was sent home.
Featured photographer: Erwin Barleta Special guests: Denise Go, Adzna Malli
The Girl Who Can Act Original Airdate: April 3, 2007 This week, the remaining ten girls learned the art of acting. They went to a theatre and were greeted by Ruffa who explained the secrets for acting. Ruffa introduced director Fritz who taught the girls of techniques on acting and about having presence in the camera or stage. Afterwards model Joey Mead introduced the girls to their acting challenge. The girls were given props and had to improve emotions with each prop. Some of the girls didn't have any idea on how to use the props while others excelled greatly. Raine ended up winning the challenge with her interpretation of 'sadness' with a remote control. Her prize was a massage and a spa treatment in the house and chose Sheena and Jen to accompany her. While the three girls were receiving their treatment, those who did not win the challenge were forced to clean the house.
Tensions rose as Bambi's personality rubbed some of the contestants the wrong way, especially Joy. The photo shoot theme this week was Murderers on the Loose and took place in an old warehouse. They were asked to pair up and choose who is the murderer and the dead. Grendel, Jen and Rina impressed Vincent Uy, the creative director of Preview magazine in the shoot. During elimination Jayna and Raine landed in the bottom two. Raine's picture was awkward and the judges felt that she doesn't fit into the modeling business. The judges were not impressed with Jayna's picture saying she still rested on looking pretty and criticized her lack of passion. Despite Raine's challenge win, her awkward picture got her the boot.
Featured photographer: Mark Nicdao Special guests: Fritz Ynfante, Joey Mead King, Jigs Mayuga
The Girl Who Flew Away Original Airdate: April 10, 2007 The show starts off with the remaining girls packing for an overnight trip to Subic. Little did they know that they will go there for physical training. Headed by military men, Tim and Jun, the exercises included warm-ups, obstacle courses, trekking and wall-climbing. While Bambi earned the ire of Wilma due to her lack of commitment for the training, the others seem to have fun. At the end of the trek, the girls did an impromptu photo shoot. Afterwards Wilma revealed that the training was an actual challenge, and discovered most of the girls were not physically fit. However, Elf proved herself to be physically fit and won the challenge and a 'surprise prize' was given to her at the Top Model house.
Returning home, Elf was surprised to find a nice dinner set up at the garden and was even more surprised when Mira appeared. It was revealed that the two of them were having a platonic relationship, even though Elf had a boyfriend. Elf confessed that she indeed had a boyfriend, but that he was cool with the Mira situation.
The next day the girls do a photo shoot where they had to pose as birds flying while jumping on a trampoline.
At judging, the judges were impressed with Grendel, Jayna, Rina, and Jen's photos while Joy and Gemma failed to turn in good shots. In the end, Grendel was called first because of her 'remarkable improvement' while Joy and Gemma were called for the bottom two. Joy was lambasted for her lack of confidence and her slipping performance in shoots and Gemma, though having natural beauty, was criticized for being unable to translate her beauty into photos. Joy was given another chance to turn her performance around whole and Gemma was sent home.
Featured photographer: Ruben de la Cruz Special guests: Tim, Jun, Mira Baino
The Girl Who Just Doesn't Get It Original Airdate: April 17, 2007 This week the remaining girls learned the art of being presentable in a party scene from Tim Yap. The girls were taken to Embassy Bar at The Fort where they were secretly observed. The judges were seeing how the girls naturally act without them around and took a look at some of the girls real attitudes. Some of the girls were very confident and presented themselves well, while others failed to show an impressive front. The next day, the girls were cast into a photo shoot where they had to endorse a perfume. Each girl represented a scent and a different word to guide their performance.
At deliberation only Jen, Grendel, Rina, Sheena, and Joy presented good photos. Elf's photo was considered a good beauty shot, but she missed the point of her shoot (per Xander Angeles). Bambi's body language was good in her photo, but her face was off while Jayna once again failed to turn in a good shot. The judges put Jayna and Bambi in bottom two. Though Jayna had a stronger portfolio overall, she lacked consistency in her photographs, and her poor performance at the party didn't bode well for her. Bambi's shoots all looked the same according to the judges. The judges debated on who would go home: the girl who seemed to have given everything but it might not be enough (Bambi), or the girl who has so much to give but doesn't put enough (Jayna). In the end, the judges decide that Jayna's time was up despite a stellar portfolio and potential, and she was sent home leaving the judges in tears and the girls shocked having been a front runner.
Featured photographer: Juan Caguicla Special guests: Tim Yap, Jigs Mayuga
The Girl Who Is A Fighter Original Airdate: April 22, 2007 This week the girls began their morning rituals. Some girls practiced their runway skills in the garden whilek others just sat and had a talk. Afterwards, the girls got a lecture from Ms. O (Olen Lim) about the strengths and weaknesses of a model and finding the right position and angle during a shoot, as well as taking the posture in consideration. Bambi won the challenge and she chose Grendel and Joy to share her prize. Her prize is a day of relaxation at The Spa.