Andy DehnartNicole Linkletter is the fifth Top Model, defeating Nik, who made it to the final two. Bre went home first, thankfully disproving TV Guide’s apparent spoiler. Nicole wins a contract with Ford Models, an ElleGirl cover and feature, and $100,000 from CoverGirl.
While the judges were impressed with Bre’s growth and personality (e.g., her cool voice and tendency to flip out and make good television), she was probably too short to be a model, never mind too unpredictable, so she went home first. Nik, as the judges kept pointing out, had the same face in nearly every shoot. But Nicole rocked the final Cover Girl photo shoot and the runway show, where Zap2it.com notes she “emerge[ed] like a Formula One car, her grill glowing with that fierceness that Tyra can never shut up about. She is well nigh frightening in her newfound confidence and gorgeousness.” For that, she won.
Next week, UPN airs a reunion of all the contestants.