After moving into a posh New York City loft, getting a fierce makeover and posing in her first nude photo shoot, 18-year-old Gabrielle from St. Louis, Miss., was the first girl to be cut from “America’s Next Top Model.” Later that week, after a runway challenge and photo shoot that had the girls braving the elements, 22-year-old Naduah from San Diego, CA, was also sent packing.

Gabrielle focusing on the positive about being the first to go

Gabrielle isn’t too broken up about being the first to be eliminated from “America’s Next Top Model.”

“It does suck sometimes when it just crosses your mind because people really don’t get to see how you actually act and who you are … but the positive is, I’m the first to be able to work and America doesn’t get the chance to hate you (because you’re not on the show long enough),” Gabrielle tells CTV.ca in a recent interview.

She was sent home after the judges – Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, André Leon Talley and guest judge Sally Hershberger – thought she was hiding in her photo and had no emotion. 

The photo shoot required the contestants to pose with whatever item of clothing or accessory they could grab off a mannequin. Gabrielle chose a pair of gold leggings and says she was comfortable with the rest of her being nude.

“When you’re in the house you just get used to everything, always (having people) around, no privacy, so doing a nude photo shoot, it comes natural.”

When her picture flashed up on the screen at the judging panel, the judges went silent.

“When the judges are silent, it’s not necessarily a good thing,” said Tyra, during the episode. 

“You look scared. You look like you’re covering yourself in quite an awkward cross,” added Nigel.  

Gabrielle knew their reactions didn’t bode well for her. 

“I was like, ‘Oh God, save me,’” she recalls with a laugh. “All of us are bound to have a bad photo but I feel like that was my worst shot.”

Prior to the show, Gabrielle says she was working with a New York City-based model management company before they closed shop last year and did a variety of photo shoots and campaigns. 

She wanted to be on ANTM to get her face back out there and thought her previous experience might give her a leg up.

“The only reason I’m a little ticked off is I came onto the whole show knowing what I was doing, knowing things that none of the girls knew and then some of the girls who knew nothing, stayed in the competition. It kind of sucks but then it’s cool because I’m giving girls a chance who haven’t experienced anything.”

Gabrielle thought Angelea was her biggest competition on the show because the two shared a similar look. So how does this eliminated contestant feel about being let go while Angelea stays?

“I think they kept her because she’s more on the dramatic side … people want to see the drama.”
 

Naduah says judges didn’t even give her a chance 
 
With her shaved head, strong facial features and tumultuous upbringing, the judges thought Naduah possessed a great edge, but when it came to her photos, chose classic poses that just didn’t fit. 

The full-time mom, who was raised in a religious cult, says they never even gave her a chance.

“I believe at some times I am very classic, but at the same time I am very versatile. Perhaps they didn’t interact enough with me to see all the different sides of me,” says Naduah.

“At the same time, I learned a lot while I was with them. I learned more than I could have anywhere else and I was very appreciative of all the advice they gave me and I had a great time in my experience.”

For their second photo shoot, the girls had to model a tinted perfume, while being bombarded with wind and rain.

The judges thought Naduah’s photo fell flat and André Leon even referred to it as “dreckitude.” 

“When I saw it, personally, it’s not the most impressive from all the photos that I have done and I didn’t find it particularly ugly either. It just was missing something,” admits Naduah.

Naduah also didn’t have the easiest time in the Top Model loft, with many of the girls wondering if she was lying about her past, including the experiences of growing up in a cult, her previous modeling career and being offered a job from Playboy.

“One of the biggest things I wanted to do when I went on the show was to really learn to become a great model and also, I wanted to share my experiences with those girls and other people so they could understand that regardless of where you come from, you can be whatever it is you want to be,” says Naduah.

“I think they just misunderstood what I told them and since I am very different and do have a different life, I think I was misconstrued. I definitely didn’t tell them anything that was not exactly (how) I experienced (it).”

“America's Next Top Model” airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET / PT  on /A\.