MILA ELIMINATED FROM "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL" ON THE CW

September 27, 2007 (Burbank, California) - Mila, a recent college graduate from Boston, Mass., was the first girl eliminated during the ninth cycle of The CW's hit reality series "America's Next Top Model," reducing the pool from 13 girls to 12.

After the final 13 participants moved into their new eco-friendly Los Angeles mansion, they met Jay Manuel for their first photo shoot where he assigned each of them a different disease or side-affect from smoking. While most of the girls dove into portraying both the glamorous "before" stereotypes and ugly "after" realities, Mila felt silly while posing as a person who was "losing hair from chemotherapy" and could not stop giggling during the photo shoot. "It was kind of sad watching Mila because I think she struggled with connecting with the true emotion of sorrow and regret," Jay said.

The next day, Miss J surprised the girls at their house to discuss the basics of dressing like a model. They then met posing instructor Benny Ninja at Old Navy, where he announced that they had 10 minutes to pick out an entire outfit that would test how well they absorbed Miss J's fashion tips. Saliesha was later chosen as the winner, earning a $1,000 shopping spree at Old Navy and the opportunity to pose in one of their print advertisements.

During the judging panel, Tyra reminded the girls that a top model is also a role model, then made a surprising announcement that a smoking ban was being placed on the girls this cycle. As the judges then narrowed the field down to the bottom two, both Mila and Ebony suffered from being unable to transfer their natural beauty into their photos. The judges agreed that Mila looked lifeless in her photo and did not seem to absorb the critiques the judges gave. "We look at you, we see a pretty girl. But pretty doesn't necessarily make a model," Tyra said before eliminating Mila 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 ninth cycle of the hit reality 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 Daniel Soiseth ("Hell's Kitchen").

"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 www.cwtv.com.