Last week’s panel ended with a cliffhanger: Which of the eliminated competitors would return and possibly join their fellow models in South Korea? After a few tense seconds of waiting, Tyra reveals fans voted for “fierce and fl-awsome” Chantelle over Ben.
But the models aren’t packing just yet. There are now eight guys and girls in the running, but only seven plane tickets to Seoul, making this week’s challenge and photo shoot the most important to date.
Some people aren’t happy about Chantelle’s return, especially when she comments how much she enjoyed life back in the “real world” (participating in the shoots but out of the ANTM spotlight). In the confessional, Chantelle says she can sense her housemates’ resentment, but she doesn’t care, because it’s a competition and she has faced bullies all her life.
The models don’t have much time to prepare for their challenge. Yu Tsai announces they’ll navigate a haunted house in complete darkness, while party photographer “thecobrasnake” snaps pics. The model who keeps his or her composure, and strikes the fiercest pose, will win.
Lights off, and everyone’s herded into a cramped, pitch-black waiting area. One by one, each model is called to walk through the house of horrors, while zombies and ghouls try to scare them into losing their cool in front of the lens. Keith’s excited to confront the demons in the dark. Will swears he’s not scared of anything (he and his high school friends would sneak into an abandoned insane asylum back home for fun), so he meets the monsters with a casual smile. Lenox and Raliea are last. Raliea is so scared, she faces the wrong way for most of the shoot. Chantelle wins; thecobrasnake says she was the most expressive and overcame her fear.
The stress of the competition is wearing on the contestants. After scoring the lowest in the challenge, Raelia breaks down crying. Earlier, Mirjana shed some tears over Denzel’s departure, but now she realizes she has no friends left in the house and pulls a total 180, giggling and snuggling, even spraying sunscreen on Adam at the pool.
But the best Tyra Treat yet is the perfect stress relief for last week’s winner: Will’s parents arrive! “This competition is really hard,” he admits. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster…you just need your mom sometimes.” The visit is also a chance for Will to be himself in front of his parents, something he says he’s never really done, even after coming out two years ago.
That night, Yu Tsai and Miss J pop in on the models to talk about a very serious issue: HIV. (You can tell from their faces they were not expecting to hear about something so somber.) Did you know there are over 50,000 new cases of HIV every year in the U.S.? And sadly, Miss J has lost dozens of friends, and his sister, to AIDS. But the good news is, condoms can be very effective protection against contracting the virus. That’s the inspiration for this week’s photo shoot: “No Glove, No Love.” (Don’t worry; they’ll just wear couture gloves, not condoms. Because that would be weird.) Tyra is stepping in as makeup artist. And they’ll be posing twice, as “protectors” of themselves (against HIV).
Lenox knows she needs to stop being afraid of her sexy side, and she gives it her all, with tons of movement and confidence. “I feel like Stevie Nicks, and I’m having a field day with it!” she laughs. Mirjana is the opposite—tentative and stiff. She dishes to Tyra about her two men, Denzel and the boyfriend back home, and admits Denzel is knocking her off her game. Adam shows up the other guys by bringing a ton of strength into his poses and getting a good shot in in only eight frames. Tsai had to ask Will to suck in his stomach and yell at Keith to wake up and give more energy.
So how does Chantelle, the comeback model, do at panel? She locks her spot on the plane to South Korea by winning best photo. Kelly says she looks super beautiful, and amazing. Her personality rubs the judges the wrong way, however. Tyra says she senses a barrier; Kelly thinks there’s a lack of sincerity.
Mirjana elicits a “meh” from Miss J. “You’ve got a face that could launch a thousand ships,” Miss J explains. “But you don’t deliver. How come? Why?”
“This is one of the worst pictures I’ve seen of you,” Kelly adds. Mirjana winds up in the bottom two with Raelia, and Tyra ultimately sends her home.
