| Season Number: | 3 | ||||
| Bgcolour: | lavender | ||||
| Num Episodes: | 16 | ||||
| Network: | ProSieben | ||||
| Module1: |
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The third season of Germany's Next Topmodel (GNTM) aired on German television network ProSieben from 28 February 2008 to 5 June 2008, with 120 semi-finalists in the competition.
This season's tagline as mentioned in the television previews, is "Sie laufen wieder" ("They walk again" – as in to walk the runway). This season was commercially presented by Volkswagen Tiguan. For this season the number of contestants was expanded to 19. The show was hosted by top model Heidi Klum. Vanessa Hegelmaier, who withdrew due to an accident, became an internationally successful topmodel after the show. The winner of the show was 16-year-old Jennifer Hof from Rodgau.
The international destinations for this season were set in Barcelona, Vienna, Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, New York City and Sydney.
Ages stated are at start of contest.
| Contestant | Age | Height | Hometown | Finish | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rubina Radwanski | 20 | Frankfurt | Episode 3 | |||
| Aisha Grone | 16 | Modautal | ||||
| Sandra Korte | 22 | Leipzig | ||||
| Aline Tausch | 20 | Munich | Episode 4 | 16–15 | ||
| Tainá Santos Silva | 18 | Brühl | ||||
| Elena Rotter | 20 | Salzburg, Austria | Episode 5 | 14 | ||
| Katharina Harms | 18 | Bremen | Episode 6 | 13–12 | ||
| Gina-Lisa Lohfink | 21 | Seligenstadt | ||||
| Bianca Schumacher | 20 | Episode 7 | 11 | |||
| Sophia Maus | 19 | Aachen | Episode 8 | 10 | ||
| Anna Vanessa 'Vanessa' Hegelmaier | 20 | Bielefeld | Episode 10 | 9 (quit) | ||
| Sarah Knappik | 21 | Bochum | 8 | |||
| Raquel Alvarez | 22 | Bern, Switzerland | Episode 11 | 7 | ||
| Gisele Oppermann | 20 | Episode 12 | 6 | |||
| Wanda Badwal | 23 | Hamburg | Episode 14 | 5–4 | ||
| Carolin Ruppert | 24 | Kelkheim | ||||
| Christina Leibold | 21 | Volkach | Episode 16 | 3 | ||
| Janina Schmidt | 23 | Hamburg | 2 | |||
| Jennifer Hof | 16 | 1 |
| Place | Model | Episodes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 | |||
| 1 | Jennifer | SAFE | IMM | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | Winner |
| 2 | Janina | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | IMM | LOW | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | LOW | OUT |
| 3 | Christina | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | SAFE | LOW | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | LOW | OUT | |
| 4–5 | Carolin | SAFE | IMM | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | LOW | OUT | ||
| Wanda | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||
| 6 | Gisele | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | ||||
| 7 | Raquel | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||
| 8 | Sarah | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | SAFE | SAFE | LOW | OUT | ||||||
| 9 | Vanessa | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | ||||||||
| 10 | Sophia | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | ||||||||
| 11 | Bianca | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||
| SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | ||||||||||||
| Katharina | SAFE | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||
| 14 | Elena | SAFE | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||
| Aline | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||||
| Tainá | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||||
| Aisha | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| Rubina | OUT | ||||||||||||||
| Sandra | OUT | ||||||||||||||
The contestant was eliminated
The contestant was immune from elimination
The contestant was in danger of elimination
The contestant withdrew from the competition
The contestant won the competition
In February 2023, the Berliner Zeitung published an article about the show with the headline: "Why isn't Germany’s Next Topmodel actually canceled?"[8]
In March 2023 former judge Peyman Armin apologized to Lijana Kaggwa for what she had to experience on Germany's Next Topmodel. He also apologized for being part of Germany's Next Topmodel and promised to never take part in the show again. All of this was broadcast in the format "13 questions" on ZDF.[9] [10]
In March 2023 BILD published the following message: "If the contestants get along too well, they will receive instructions from the crew to argue and produce beef." The participating contestants are also too young and inexperienced and cannot assess the extent of the show.[11]
In April 2023, Heidi Klum said about everything that happens at Germany's Next Topmodel: "At the end of the day I'm the boss and I make the rules!"[12]
In June 2023, the German TV broadcaster ZDF released a 70-minute investigative documentary about the machinations of the makers of Germany's Next Topmodel called "Pressure, hatred, manipulation: how sick does Germany's Next Topmodel make you?". For this documentary, around 50 former contestants, judges and members of the show's crew were interviewed, some anonymously. The makers of the documentary admitted that they are familiar with difficult investigations, but they have never experienced it before that so many people were afraid to talk about what happened as these former participants and employees of Germany's Next Topmodel. A crew member of the show who wished to remain anonymous is quoted as saying: "If you film a young woman from morning to night, you'll get every sectional image you want. So you can cut and tell what you want. A lot of things are cut together wildly. The jobs depend on it. It's about ratings." In addition, former contestants report how the show's editors deliberately foment manipulation, lies and discord among the contestants behind the scenes. The contestants are shielded from the outside world so they lose their nerve and argue. So 20 candidates have to sleep together in one room without contact to the outside world. The statements by Heidi Klum, the broadcasting TV station Pro7 and the production company are presented as hypocrisy. Pro7 is said to have earned 87 million euros with the Season 18, and Heidi Klum 10 million euros. The contestants receive no money. Germany's Next Topmodel has driven some contestants into depression and suicidal thoughts.[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]